Jacques SAADE

Jacques Saadé is the chairman of CMA-CGM, a group that he carried out to the third world place in shipping.
The man is discrete. His father, Rodolphe Saadé, disappeared whereas Jacques was 21.
Young heir, Jacques Saadé following to successive purchases and intuitions on the world trade evolution, built a worldwide group in shipping.
CMA CGM is specialised in the maritime transport. In the early nineties Jacques Saadé had a presentiment of the economic boom to come in China. CMA took positions in China, somewhat wait and see at the beginning, its positioning quickly became the engine of the group growth.
After the purchase of CMA the group deploys its know-how on the majority of the seas of the world. CMA CGM invests regularly in the modernization of the fleet, Jacques Saadé recently ordered several ships with a capacity higher than 12000 EVP.
Having always to the spirit to provide the best service to his customers and at the best cost, Jacques Saadé assembled a single partnership with the giant of data processing IBM. The group also takes positions in the African ports, thanks to a partnership negotiated with Bolloré at the time of the purchase of Delmas.
One lends intentions to CMA CGM in the rail, the group besides recently took a participation of 8% in a Chinese company which envisages to invest 1,5 billion $ in the construction of several platforms of freight. In an interview in January 2007 with the daily newspaper La Tirbune Jacques Saadé declared "the railroad constitutes the only future for the transport of freight on long distances".
CMA CGM also assembled a partnership with Véolia in combined transport. Disappointed by the bad service of French rail freight (SNCF), the purpose of CMA CGM – Veolia alliance is to provide a combined service of transport with maritime and rail freight.
Two company were created for that, one controlled (51%) by a subsidiary company of CMA CGM will be in charge of the maritime offer, and the other, mainly (51%) held by Véolia will propose an offer of container transport by rail on Europe. The objective is to multiply by four or five the container rail traffic.
Jacques Saadé, talented ship-owner is famous for his intuition and his firmness in the business. But before all he is a Lebanese lover. During the Israeli attack on Lebanon in summer 2006, news TV was constantly on at the tenth floor of CMA CGM building in Marseilles. In an interview given to Challenge in summer 2006, Jacques Saadé does not hide his distress: "Lebanon was erasing the consequences of the war and to be rebuilt, with a beautiful face. The Lebanese one again awake by measuring again their brittleness, their minority." He rises against the Israeli behaviour and worries for its country. During the blocus he didn’t hesitate to call Dominique Perben (French Ministry of transports) and proposed to him to place at its disposal a whole boat to convey for free the humanitarian aid. August 17, the Cape Camarat entered the port of Beirut with 1700 tons of freight, food, drugs and power generating units. Jacques Saadé told to Challenge (French magazine) he was ready to give this boat for free at only one condition: "Free but at one condition, nonnegotiable: that the ship is discharged in Beirut even, nowhere else. Question of principle " Finally Jacques Saadé worries about the long-term consequences of the destruction; the escape of young Lebanese which just started to be reinstalled in Lebanon.
But nothing stops Jacques Saadé, he recently inaugurated the building site of the future CMA CGM tower, 147 m in height, the largest building of Marseilles. One awaits the continuation...