Thierry Jacquillat


Thierry Jacquillat was a French businessman who spent most of his career with French beverage company Pernod Ricard.

Biography

He graduated from the École des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Paris, after having studied at Cours Hattemer and Lycée Carnot.

Pernod Ricard

At the age of 25, he was taken on board the family-run Pernod Fils through Jean Hémard, who at the time was President of the brand. Jacquillat started out as a management assistant, then becoming administrative director and finally secretary general. Placed in charge of the merger with the Ricard group in 1974, he contributed to the creation of Pernod Ricard consequent to which he became Managing Director from 1977 to 2000, then Director and Vice President until 2004.
Jacquillat helped transform a French family-run business with 1,100 employees into one of the top world leaders in wines and spirits, with nearly 15,000 employees and a presence in nearly 100 countries.

Nonprofits

In April 2002, Jacquillat was elected Chairman of the Greater Paris Investment Agency,'' a non-profit organization dedicated to attracting investors to the Île-de-France region. He has also acted as the Vice President of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry until December 2004, being in charge of relations with large companies.

Death

Thierry Jacquillat died, aged 71, on 11 January 2010.

Personal life

Jacquillat married Marie-Annick Waldruche de Montremy in 1963 and had four children.
In 2005, after retiring, Jacquillat published a book called Fais vite, ne traîne pas en route, an autobiography recounting his adventures within the Pernod Ricard Group in great detail: it shows how Jacquillat managed to globalise the company in a span of forty years.
An aficionado of the arts, Thierry Jacquillat also chaired the prestigious Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris-Alfred Cortot. He was made a Commandeur de la Légion d’honneur, an Officier of l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and has a Military Cross as officer in the French navy.