Jean-Luc Lagardère

Who was Jean-Luc Lagardère?

Jean-Luc Lagardère was a major French businessman, CEO of the Lagardere Group, one of the largest French conglomerates.

Jean-Luc Lagardère was a Supelec engineer. He began his career in Dassault Aviation. CEO of Matra in the 1960s, he became famous with success in Formula One and Le Mans. He later built a large media and defense conglomerate that bears his name. He was a member of the Saint-Simon Foundation think-tank.

In 1981, with his friend Daniel Filipacchi, he purchased Hachette magazines, which included the French TV Guide, and the then-struggling Elle magazine. Elle was then launched in the U.S., followed by 25 foreign editions. Filipacchi and Lagardère then expanded Hachette Filipacchi Magazines in the U.S. with the purchase of Diamandis Communications Inc., including Woman's Day, Car and Driver, Road and Track, Flying, Boating, and many others.

He was married to Bethy Lagardère, whose birth name is Elizabeth Luke Pepper, a socialite and former Brazilian model who settled in France.