Jacques Saade

About Jacques Saade

Birth Year: 1937
Birth Place: Marseille, France, France
Alma mater: London School of Economics
Occupation: Founder chairman of the CMA CGM Group
Known for: President of the Franco-Lebanese Chamber of Commerce
Notable work: Officer of France’s Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur

Jacques Saade

Jacques Saade was born on 1937 in Marseille, France, France. Lebanese-born Frenchman Jacques Saade runs the world's third largest shipping company. He founded container transporters CMA in Marseille, France, in 1978, and acquired logistics giant CGM in 1996. Saade merged the two in 1999 and now owns nearly 75% of CMA CGM, with Turkish investment group Yildirim holding virtually all of the rest. In September 2016, the CMA CGM completed its largest acquisition yet, taking control of NOL (Neptune Orient Lines), a Singaporean container shipping firm known for its APL brand. The combined company has 12% market share and operates nearly 540 vessels serving 420 commercial ports. CMA CGM has entered into a 10-year alliance with three other shipping companies, expected to launch in 2017, that will operate more than 300 ships. Saade's three children also work for the company.
Jacques Saade is a member of Logistics

Some Jacques Saade images

Biography/Timeline

1937

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.”.

1978

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.”

1983

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.

1986

In 1986, after noticing that volumes from Asia were constantly on the rise, he decided to extend CMA's shipping lines to Asia (including Japan). He later traveled to China himself in 1992 to open the first regional office in Shanghai, entrusting the management of the company's development in Asia to John Wang, a professor at the Shanghai Maritime University.  

1996

In 1996 Jacques Saadé acquired CGM (Compagnie Générale Maritime) following privatization.

1998

Two years later in 1998 came acquisition by CMA of the National Australian Line ANL and in the following year 1999 merger of CMA and CGM and creation of the CMA CGM Group.

2006

In 2006, Saadé concludes the acquisition of DELMAS and the CMA CGM Group becomes the third largest shipping Group in the world. Three additional acquisitions were made in 2007: Chinese Company Cheng Lie Navigation Ltd, U.S. Lines, and COMANAV.

2007

He chose to equip his fleet with new large capacity vessels fitted with the latest green technologies. These vessels, combined with various other actions, allowed the group to reduce by 50% its carbon emissions per shipped container per km on its owned fleet between 2007 and 2015, confirming an objective set in 2007.

2009

At the height of the crisis in 2009, the shipping industry was badly affected. Jacques R. Saadé was opposed to breaking up the Group. Supported by his son Rodolphe Saadé, and daughter Tanya Saadé, he was convinced container transport sector would bounce back. In 2010, CMA CGM signed an agreement with the family-run industrial Turkish group YILDIRIM. The agreement enabled the Group to strengthen its financial structure and secure Finance for its investment plans. This also later led him to invest, notably in building the Group’s first three 16,000 teu vessels: the CMA CGM Marco Polo, the CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt, and the CMA CGM Jules Verne.

2011

The CMA CGM attitude has garnered the attention of the Anglo-Saxon analysts at Lloyd’s List. In its 11 July 2011 edition, the British daily, a reference in the shipping industry, highlighted the fact that “with the support of a solid family network, Jacques R. Saadé fought tooth and nail during the crisis, keeping the creditors at bay, juggling the order books and deployment of his fleet, and having the courage to reject several potential Investors waiting for a partner that does not interfere in the way he runs the company”.

2013

However, according to these British analysts, his tenacity paid off – the CMA CGM Group has since returned to profit. The daily French financial newspaper Les Echos said: “Many observers thought CMA CGM would not recover from the losses suffered two years ago, while Jacques R. Saadé said he always knew his company would survive.”

2017

In 2017, Jacques Saadé apoints Rodolphe Saadé Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group. Later that year, Jacques Saadé appoints Rodolphe Saadé Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group while he is himself appointed Founder Chairman.

2019

Today, the CMA CGM Group is the world’s 3rd largest container shipping company and No.1 in France. With a fleet of 489 vessels, it serves more than 420 ports worldwide and carried around 15.6 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) - estimated - in 2016. Present on all continents and in 160 countries through its 775 offices, it employs 29,000+ people including 4,500 in France. Revenue for 2016 is US$16.0 billion.

Jacques Saade trend