Loïc Féry

Loïc Féry (born 15 March 1974) is a French businessman. He worked as a financial trader in Hong Kong and the City of London from 1997 to 2007, for Société Générale and Crédit Agricole. He founded the investment firm Chenavari in 2007 and became the owner of football club FC Lorient in 2009.

Early life and education

Féry was born in Nancy. He grew up in Pont-à-Mousson, also in Lorraine, where his parents were teachers; his father in physical education, his mother in mathematics. He achieved a ''Bac C'' (now Baccalauréat scientifique) with the ''mention très bien'' grade. He attended the Lycée du Parc school in Lyon and the HEC Paris.

Aged 19, Féry took a year out of his studies after his first year to lead a telematics project in Eastern Europe, having won a competition. He then had a six-month internship in a trading room.

Career

Financial markets

Féry worked as a financial trader in Hong Kong, moving there in September 1997 during the Asian financial crisis. He was put in charge of credit markets in South East Asia for Société Générale, remaining there until 2000. He developed a company called Asiabooster to help European start-ups in the continent, but it fell to the Dot-com bubble.

Having returned to Europe in 2001, Féry settled in London. His former boss at Société Générale set him the task of setting up Crédit Agricole's business in the British capital, leading 150 people in 2006. In March 2007, he was the highest paid person in the company. Four months later, with the company now known as Calyon after its merger with Crédit Lyonnais, one of Féry's subordinates lost €200 million on the New York stock exchange. Féry was fired in September

Before the end of 2007, Féry set up the hedge fund Chenavari, named after a peak visible from his childhood home. As of 2020, Chenavari had $5 billion in assets.

FC Lorient

Féry considered buying OGC Nice, Nîmes Olympique, Grenoble Foot 38 or Sheffield Wednesday before buying FC Lorient in 2009. The Nice offer in 2001 was with a Korean business partner, and was rejected for lack of transparency, while the president of Nîmes changed his mind as his club was promoted to Ligue 2, and Wednesday was considered too expensive and risky for Féry. Aged 35, he was the youngest president in Ligue 1. As of 2012, Lorient was the only Ligue 1 club not in debt.

In late 2012, Féry was elected president of the administration council of the Ligue de Football Professionnel. In July 2018, he and Francis Graille of AJ Auxerre were elected presidents of the same body for Ligue 2 clubs.

Féry's club were relegated back to Ligue 2 in 2017. After achieving promotion back to Ligue 1 in 2020, he invested heavily, saying that only Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and OGC Nice were spending as much. In July 2023, he received attention for signing 2018 FIFA World Cup winner Benjamin Mendy days after the player was acquitted of sexual offences in England. Lorient were relegated again from the 2023–24 Ligue 1, despite having the eighth-biggest budget. Féry admitted responsibility for Lorient's relegation and the mistake of abolishing the role of sporting director, which had left coach Régis Le Bris with the added role of player recruitment.

Personal life

Féry was married to Olivia Féry, born Olivia Gravereaux, an ex professional tennis player who also represented Hong Kong during their stay there. They divorced in 2022. Their son Arthur Féry became a professional in the same sport, under his British nationality.

According to French business magazine ''Challenges'', Féry was France's 398th richest person in 2023, with a net worth of €320 million. This was an increase from his €120 million fortune in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fery, Loic
1974 births
Living people
People from Nancy, France
People from Pont-à-Mousson
20th-century French businesspeople
21st-century French businesspeople
French football chairmen and investors
French expatriates in Hong Kong
French expatriates in England
HEC Paris alumni