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Margarita Louis-Dreyfus en 2011 – By Dilma Rousseff –

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Margarita Louis-Dreyfus

Margarita Louis-Dreyfus is a Swiss billionaire and businesswoman. She is one of the richest women in the world currently with a net worth of $3.7 billion as of 2022.

The Russian Born Swiss has however not always been wealthy. Her fortunes changed for the better in 1988 when she met her husband to be Robert Louis-Dreyfus.

She was born on 1st July 1962 in St. Petersburg Russia but currently resides in Switzerland and is a Swiss national. She is the Chairperson of the Louis Dreyfus Company B.V. (LDC) which she inherited a majority stake after her husband’s death in 2009.

1. She Was Born in Russia

Margarita Was Born in St. Petersburg (called Leningrad back then), Russia on 1st July 1962. She spent her childhood in Russia.

At seven years of age, her parents passed away as a result of a fatal train accident. She was raised by her grandfather, an electrical engineer named Leonid Bogdanov. Leonid made sure Margarita was properly educated. He later passed away in 1985.

2. She Was a Salesperson

As said above Margarita’s grandfather was very keen to ensure she was very well educated. She studied law at Moscow State University. Margarita Louis-Dreyfus first studied law at Moscow State University and graduated with a law degree.

She studied at the Leningrad Institute of Soviet Trade and in 1981, she successfully graduated with a diploma in accounting. The institution today is known as the Saint Petersburg State University of Trade and Economics.

3. She Met Her Husband, Robert Louis-Dreyfus on A Sales Trip

Robert Louis-Dreyfus – By ThierryL33 –

After getting her diploma, Margarita proceeded to hold several positions in accountancy, marketing and sales. One of her most notable gigs was the sales position at Laytron AG. At Laytron she worked as a circuit-board salesperson.

While on the job, Margarita took a flight from Zurich to London in 1988. This flight would change her life completely. While on the flight, she met her husband to be Robert Louis-Dreyfus.

According to Margarita, she turned to ask Robert the time and he “pulled out a photo of his bobtail sheepdog,”. Margarita claims that from that moment she was hooked on him.

4. She Was the Second Wife of Robert Louis-Dreyfus

Margarita met Robert on a flight from Zurich to London in 1988. At the time he was married to Sarah Oberholzer whom he later divorces in 1989.

After they met on the plane, Robert called Margarita to ask her to translate a document into Russian. Playfully, Margarita told him; ‘You know, you could ask me out to lunch without any translation,’. To which he replied, ‘Oh, yes, yes.’

The two got together and in 1992, the couple got married. Margarita became a full-time wife, mother, and Swiss citizen. They proceeded to have three children Eric, Maurice, and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus.

5. She Inherited the Louis-Dreyfus Group Following Her Husband’s Death

Robert Louis-Dreyfus was a French businessman who was the CEO of Adidas and Saatchi & Saatchi. Robert was also a shareholder at Olympic Marseille, a French football team since 1996.

On July 4th, 2009, Robert passed away after suffering from Leukemia for a while. Following his death, Margarita became heir to the Saatchi & Saatchi and Louis-Dreyfus’ majority shares at Olympique de Marseille.

Following his death, Margarita inherited the Louis-Dreyfus group and at the same time a majority shareholder of Olympique de Marseille. Margarita was ready and willing to take over the mantle and responsibility bestowed upon her after his death.

This is because Robert had successfully integrated her into management after learning that he was ill. This meant that the transition was seamless and that the business did not suffer.

6. Despite Getting Her Wealth from Her Husband, She Has Earned It

Money by S K from

After inheriting the Louis-Dreyfus Group majority shares, there was resistance to her taking over. However, it was impossible to vote her off the board since Louis-Dreyfus had locked up the share for 99 years.

She had to battle and fight to gain respect and acknowledgment in the companies she had control over. Many expected her to stand back and live off of her rich husband’s estate but they were massively disappointed.

In 2012, Margarita claimed that her goal is to preserve the Louis-Dreyfus commodities group. This is on behalf of her husband’s heirs (their children) which was his dying wish.

7. She Is a Mother of Five

During her marriage to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, the couple had three children. The firstborn is Éric who was born in 1992. The other two are twins Maurice and Kyril who were born in 1997.

The twins Kyril and Maurice studied in Singapore which Margarita claimed was to help them broaden their horizons. Kyril is the chairman and majority shareholder of Sunderland Football Club which is in the English Championship league.

In 2013, she met her now partner Philipp Hildebrand. Phillip is the vice chairman of US investment manager BlackRock and former Swiss National Bank chairman. This relationship was very controversial at first since Phillip was married and embroiled in a currency trading scandal together with his then-wife. On 21st March 2016, Margarita gave birth to twin girls.

8. Margarita Sold Olympic Marseille in 2016

Margarita and the Olympique de Marseille winner of the 2011 Champions Trophy – By mustapha_ennaimi –

Robert Louis-Dreyfus became the majority shareholder of Olympique de Marseille in 1996. Olympique de Marseille is a French football team that at the time had been relegated to the second division following a match-fixing scandal.

After his death, Margarita inherited the shares, took over the club, and invested heavily in it. However, she decided to sell the club citing that, unlike rivals who were funded by states or investment groups, she could not match them.

In 2016, the sale of the club went through to former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. However, Margarita did hold on to 5% of the club’s shares.

9. She Is One of The Richest People in The World

Forbes Magazine by StockSnap from

Margarita Louis-Dreyfus is the chairperson of the Louis-Dreyfus Group with shares and stakes in several other multi-million conglomerates. This makes her not only one of the richest women in the world but also among the most powerful.

Her Net Worth as of 2022 is $3.7 Billion ranking at number 778 on the Forbes billionaire list. As of 2019, she ranked among the top 100 most powerful women in the world although she has fallen off of the rankings since.

10. She Is a Philanthropist

The Louis Dreyfus Foundation is situated in Paris, and Margarita is its president and founder. The organization wants to aid in reducing hunger and poverty by offering small farmers long-term solutions.