Louis René Fernand Gallois (, born 26 January 1944) is a French businessman. He was the CEO of

EADS Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

, the European aeronautic defense and space company, from 2007 to 2012.

Education

Gallois was raised in Montauban, where he received his

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

in 1961. After two years of a well-known private ''prépa'' school,

Sainte-Geneviève Saint Genevieve or Sainte-Geneviève may refer to: * Saint Genevieve (419/422–512), the patron of Paris * Saint Geneviève de Loqueffret (10th century), a local saint from Loqueffret, Brittany Buildings * Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, a li ...

, he attended business school at

HEC Paris HEC Paris (french: École des hautes études commerciales de Paris) is a business school, and one of the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles, located in Jouy-en-Josas, France. HEC offers Master in Management, MSc International Fi ...

, a

Grande école A ''grande école'' () is a specialised university that is separate from, but parallel and often connected to, the main framework of the French public university system. The grandes écoles offer teaching, research and professional training in s ...

, graduating in 1966. He then went on to ÉNA, one of the most prestigious ''grandes écoles'', graduating in 1972.

Career

Gallois headed several government departments during his career. He was appointed head of the civil and military cabinet in the French defense ministry (1988–1989). He was chairman and CEO of

Snecma Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It ...

, an aircraft and rocket engine manufacturer, from 1989 to 1992, when he became CEO of

Aérospatiale Aérospatiale (), sometimes styled Aerospatiale, was a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société nationale industrielle aérospatiale ( ...

, a French state-owned aviation company. He headed that company until 1996, when he became President of

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

, France's national state-owned railway company. Gallois joined EADS on 2 July 2006 following the resignation of Noël Forgeard. Forgeard resigned after allegations of

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider information ...

, which he denied. Forgeard had sold EADS stock weeks before its

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...

subsidiary announced that the

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...

would be delayed again. The announcement caused a 26% slump in the EADS share price. On 9 October 2006 Gallois replaced

Christian Streiff Christian Streiff (born 21 September 1954) is a French businessman. Streiff was born at Sarrebourg, Moselle. He was nominated chief executive officer of the European commercial aircraft manufacturer Airbus S.A.S. on 2 July 2006. He resigned from ...

as the CEO of the aircraft manufacturer

S.A.S. On 16 July 2007 EADS's management structure was changed and Gallois was appointed CEO of EADS for 5 years. He was replaced on 31 May 2012 by the then CEO of Airbus,

Tom Enders Thomas Enders (born December 21, 1958) is a German business executive who served as the chief executive of Airbus (formerly EADS, Airbus Group) from 2012 until 2019. Since 2019, he has been the president of the German Council on Foreign Relations ...

. Gallois is a member of the board of directors of

École Centrale Paris École Centrale Paris (ECP; also known as École Centrale or Centrale) was a French grande école in engineering and science. It was also known by its official name ''École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures''. In 2015, École Centrale Paris mer ...

and President of the ''Fondation Villette-Entreprises''. In 2012, immediately after leaving EADS, Gallois became the government's Commissioner for Investment. He held his position until 2014. He is elected in June 2012 president of the FNARS (Fédération nationale des associations d'accueil et de réinsertion sociale), a group focusing on social and solidarity actions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallois, Louis 1944 births Living people HEC Paris alumni École nationale d'administration alumni French chief executives French rail transport chief executives People from Montauban Airbus people SNCF people Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire