Jacques Saadé
| Jacques Saadé | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1937 Beyrouth, Lebanon |
| Nationality | French, Lebanese |
| Alma mater | London School of Economics |
| Occupation | Founder and Chairman of the board of CMA CGM |
| Known for | President of the Franco-Lebanese Chamber of Commerce |
| Notable work | Officer of France’s Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur |
Jacques R. Saadé (Arabic: جاك سعادة) (born 1937) is a French-Lebanese born businessman, living in Marseille, France. He is the founder and chairman of the CMA CGM Group, a French container transportation and shipping company, third largest in the world.
Jacques R. Saadé was born in 1937 in Beirut, Lebanon. He graduated from the London School of Economics in 1957 and took over the family business after the death of his father. His father had “established plants in Syria, we were producing tobacco, cotton seed, olive oil, ice, etc.”.
Based on his fathers advice, Saadé did an internship in New York to learn about shipping after his graduation. This is where he discovered the container (capacity: one cubic metre) used by the American army during the Vietnam war. In a Les Echos article, Saadé said: “I thought the container was an excellent idea for transporting goods as it was closed, easy and quick.”
The 1978 War in Lebanon prompted him to move to Marseille. This is where he set up Compagnie maritime d’affrètement (CMA) with his brother Johnny on September 13 the same year. The company initially operated services between Marseille, Beirut and Syria. Saadé said: “I wanted the sea. Marseille is beautiful and the sea looks a little like that in Beirut.”
In the beginning there was family tension between Jacques Saadé and his brother Johnny. After difficult family disputes, Jacques Saadé took the helm alone.
In 1983, Saadé made the decision to cross the Suez Canal and extended the company lines to Mina-Qaboos in the Gulf of Oman. Jacques Saadé was trying to prepare the company for the "Far East" to win a competitive advantage over other carriers.
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