Gérard Paul Louis Marie-Joseph Mulliez (born 13 May 1931) is a French entrepreneur. He is the founder of the
Auchan
Auchan () is a French multinational retail group headquartered in Croix, France. It was founded in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez and is owned by the Mulliez family, who has 95% stake in the company.
With 354,851 employees, of which 261,000 have 5% ...
chain of department stores.
Early life
Gérard Mulliez was born on 13 May 1931 in
Roubaix
Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th centur ...
, France. His father, Gérard Mulliez, was the owner of Phildar, a knitting yarn brand founded by his grandfather, Louis Mulliez-Lestienne.
[Marie Bordet]
Gérard Mulliez se confie enfin
''Le Point
''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and news magazine published in Paris.
History and profile
''Le Point'' was founded in September 1972 by a group of journalists who had, one year earlier, left the editorial team of '' L'Express'', w ...
'', 12 July 2012[Qui est Gérard Mulliez, troisième fortune de France et (discret) fondateur d'Auchan ?](_blank)
''Sud Ouest'', 23 February 2015 His uncle, Louis Mulliez, was the owner of the Saint-Liévin factory in
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...
.
Gérard Mulliez has five siblings.
Mulliez had reportedly bad grades at school.
He spent a year in England, where he learned to play rugby and pool, and learned to speak English.
He failed his Baccalaureate.
Career
Mulliez started his career working for his father's company, working his way up until he became its Chairman.
In 1961, at the age of twenty-nine, after witnessing
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
s on a trip to the US, he opened his first
Auchan
Auchan () is a French multinational retail group headquartered in Croix, France. It was founded in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez and is owned by the Mulliez family, who has 95% stake in the company.
With 354,851 employees, of which 261,000 have 5% ...
store in
Roubaix
Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th centur ...
, France.
[Carol Matlack, 'Gerard Mulliez' Auchan: France's Wal-Mart Goes Global', in '']BusinessWeek
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York Cit ...
'', 10 December 200
/ref> He retired as chairman in 1996 and as CEO in 2006 handing over control to his nephew, Vianney Mulliez.
His holding Association Familiale Mulliez (AFM) controls Auchan as well as a diverse mix of other retail chains such as Leroy Merlin, Decathlon, Saint Maclou, Kiloutou, Kiabi, Flunch, etc.[Gérard Mulliez et sa famille](_blank)
''Challenges Magazine'' It is co-owned between a thousand family members. Six hundred of his cousins are millionaires as a result.
In 2004, he was the recipient of the Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
.
In 2022, retailers founded or part-owned by Gérard Mulliez, including Auchan
Auchan () is a French multinational retail group headquartered in Croix, France. It was founded in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez and is owned by the Mulliez family, who has 95% stake in the company.
With 354,851 employees, of which 261,000 have 5% ...
, Decathlon
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄθ ...
and Leroy Merlin
Leroy Merlin () is a French-headquartered home improvement and gardening retailer serving several countries in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. Leroy Merlin is owned by the Mulliez family, which also owns Auchan.
History
In 1923, Ad ...
, have been criticized for refusing to pull out from the Russian market as a result of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...
.
Wealth
According to ''Challenge Magazine'', he was worth 19 billion Euros in 2013, 20 billion Euros in 2014, and according to ''Capital'', nearly 40 billion Euros in 2016 making him the first richest person in France.[Le fondateur d'Auchan à des jeunes communistes : "À votre âge, j'avais déjà ouvert mon premier magasin"](_blank)
'' Sud-Ouest'', 23 February 2015 According to ''Capital'', the Mulliez family was the richest family in France in 2014. According to Hurun Report
Rupert Hoogewerf (born 1970 in Luxembourg), also known by his Chinese name Hu Run (), is the chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, a research, media and investments business, best known for its Hurun Rich List, a ranking of the wealthies ...
, he is 18th richest person in the world with a net worth of US$30 billion. Some of his family members reside in Néchin, Belgium.
He has revealed that he has also spent less than he earns,[Gérard Mulliez: "Toujours dépenser moins qu'on gagne"](_blank)
in ''L'Express
''L'Express'' () is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''Réussir''.
History ...
'', 9 July 2008 and reinvests most of his earnings. He added that most of his wealth is tied up in family shares, and he would not be able to spend much of it. He is in favour of taxing annual incomes upwards of 500,000 Euros, but not dividends on investments, arguing that this would scare investors away.
On 21 February 2015, he paid a personal visit to the youth wing of the French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...
in Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...
to protest a poster accusing him of profiting from the financial crisis, as he got richer while his employees saw their spending power diminish.[Lille : en colère, le fondateur d'Auchan s'invite chez les communistes](_blank)
''Le Figaro
''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French Newspaper of recor ...
'', 22 February 2015 He argued that he employed a lot of people, adding that by the time he was their age, he had already opened his first store.
Personal life
Mulliez and his wife have three children. They reside in Croix near Lille and own another house in the South of France. They are practising Roman Catholics. He enjoys spending his weekends biking and hiking in the countryside.
Bibliography
* ''La Dynamique du client'', Richard C. Whiteley and Gérard Mulliez, interview with Jean-Pierre Thiollet
Jean-Pierre Thiollet (; born 9 December 1956) is a French writer and journalist.
Primarily living in Paris, he is the author of numerous books and one of the national leaders of the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CEDI), a ...
, Maxima, 1994 and 1997.
See also
* List of French people by net worth
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulliez, Gerard
1931 births
Living people
People from Roubaix
French businesspeople in retailing
French businesspeople
Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
French Roman Catholics
French billionaires