Jacques R. Saadé, the founder of the French shipping major CMA CGM, passed away on June 24, 2018 at the age of 81.
Saadé established the Compagnie Maritime d’Affretement (CMA) in September 1978, 40 years ago, after leaving Lebanon following the civil war in the country.
The company started off with 4 employees, a single ship and only one maritime service between Marseilles and Beirut.
In 1983, he sent his first ships beyond the Mediterranean and had them cross the Suez Canal. In 1986, Saadé launched a service linking North Europe to Asia, and later in 1992 he opened CMA’s first office in Shanghai.
Saadé dedicated his life to CMA CGM and made the group into a world leader in the maritime transport of containers, developing the company in more than 160 countries.
In a statement on Monday. CMA CGM said: “
It is with infinite sadness that the CMA CGM Group announces the death of Mr. Jacques R. Saade, Founding President of the CMA CGM Group, on the 24th of June 2018 at the age of 81.
“Jacques R. Saadé dedicated his life to CMA CGM. An extraordinary visionary and entrepreneur, he made the Group into a world leader in the maritime transport of containers, developing the company in more than 160 countries, while maintaining the family dimension with its values.
“After having left Lebanon to protect his family for Civil War, Jacques R Saadé founded the Compagnie Maritime d’Affretement (CMA) 40 years ago, on 13 September 1978, anticipating major developments in world trade and convinced that the container would have a determining role in world maritime transport”.
Jacques Saadé: the entrepreneur
Jacques Saadé was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1937. He died in Marseilles, France, on June 24, 2018.
After graduating from the London School of Economics in 1957, he took over the family business the following year.
In 1978, he moved to France, where he set up the Compagnie Maritime d’Affrètement (CMA).
Anticipating major developments in world trade, and convinced that the container would have a determining role in these changes, he opened CMA’s first office in China, in Shanghai in 1992. China quickly became the most important market for CMA, which became the number one container shipping company in France.
From 1996 to 2008, Jacques Saadé pursued the Group’s expansion via external growth. In particular he acquired Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM) when it was privatized in 1996, then merged CMA and CGM, whichled to the birth of the CMA CGM Group in 1999.
This acquisition, a turning point in the Group’s history, was the first step in a series of targeted acquisitions that would contribute to positioning CMA CGM Group as a world leader in the shipping industry:
the government-owned Australian National Line (ANL) in 1998;
the French company DELMAS in 2005;
the Chinese company Taiwan’s Cheng Lie Navigation Co., Ltd. (CNC);
the American firm U.S. LINES in 2007;
the company MacAndrews;
The Morocco’s company COMANAV.
Thus, in 2005, the CMA CGM Group became the world’s third-largest shipping company.
Jacques Saadé: visionary industry leader
His long-term vision of the industry is also reflected in the construction of an efficient fleet of vessels, equipped with the most innovative technology.
To build the CMA CGM vessel fleet, Jacques Saadé decided early on to invest in large containerships while being particularly attentive to environmental issues and climate change. In this regard, in 2005, the Group set itself the goal of reducing CO2 emissions per container by 50% by the year 2015.
In June 2013, and for the first time since 1962, it was the President of the French Republic, François Hollande, welcomed by Jacques Saadé, who inaugurated the CMA CGM JULES VERNE, flagship of the CMA CGM fleet at the time.
Today, the CMA CGM Group, of which Jacques Saadé is the Chairman of the board, is a leading worldwide shipping group..
CMA CGM serves more than 420 ports with a fleet of 494 vessels. In 2016, it carried more than 18.95 million TEUs. Present in 160 countries on five continents via a global network of 755 agencies, the Group employs more than 30,000 people worldwide, including 4,500 in France. In 30,000, it reported revenue of $21.1 billion.
With his strong attachment to Marseilles, the company’s birthplace, Jacques Saadé decided to build the CMA CGM Tower in 2006, which would be the new Head Office. The architect Zaha Hadid, winner of the 2004 Pritzker Architecture Prize, was entrusted with the design of the new building. Nerve centre of the company, overlooking the port of Marseilles, the 33-story CMA CGM Tower is the Group’s command and control centre and workplace for 2,400 employees since 2011.
Jacques Saadé, a recognized leader
Jacques Saadé has received numerous awards both in France and abroad for his achievements.
In 2007, he was named Maritime Personality of the Year by the international magazine Seatrade. He also received the Manley-Bendall award from France’s Académie de Marine and an Honorary Degree from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport in Alexandria.
In 2012, Jacques Saadé received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by “Containerisation International”, the English magazine of container shipping.
In 2013, Jacques Saadé was recognized with one of the highest decorations of the City of Hamburg: “the Admiralitäts-Portugaleser.”
In 2014, Jacques Saadé receives an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters from the Lebanese American University (LAU).
In 2015, he is named Commander of the French Legion of Honor.
Jacques Saadé has been President of the Franco-Lebanese Chamber of Commerce from 1986 to 2014. He is also head of the France-Jordan business leaders council within Medef International. He is recipient of Lebanon’s National Order of the Cedar.
In December 2016, the Saadé family ranked 4th the Lloyd’s List One Hundred, listing the most influential people of the shipping industry. Later this year, he was named Commandeur in the Ordre National du Mérite Maritime.
In 2017, Jacques Saadé is appointed Founder Chairman.
Jacques Saadé died in Marseilles on June 24, 2018.
—-Courtesy CMA CGM
