All you need to know about Margarita Louis-Dreyfus

Margarita Louis-Dreyfus is a Russian-born businesswoman with a $4 billion net worth. Margarita Louis-Dreyfus acquired her fortune from her late husband, Robert Louis-Dreyfus. Margarita and Robert met on a plane in 1988. They married in 1992 and were together until his de ath in 2009 from leukemia.

From 1994 to 2004, Robert Louis-Dreyfus was the chairman and CEO of Adidas before taking over his family business, the Louis Dreyfus Group. Margarita not only received a controlling ownership in the Louis Dreyfus commodities powerhouse upon his death, but she also became the company’s chairwoman and has mainly run the firm for the last decade or so.

Sadly, the Louis Dreyfus Group has suffered in the years since Robert’s death. Margarita received a share worth $10 billion at the time of his death.

Who is Margarita Louis-Dreyfus married to?

Margarita Louis-Dreyfus met Robert Louis-Dreyfus on a journey from Zurich to London in 1988. They married in 1992 and have three kids, including Kyril, who is the chairman and majority stakeholder of Sunderland, an English Championship football club.

Margarita, who had previously worked for a circuit board equipment seller, became a full-time wife and mother. Following her husband’s death from illness, she became chairman of the Louis Dreyfus Group in 2009.

Margarita took over as chairperson of the venerable Louis Dreyfus Group after Robert died in 2009 from illness. Louis Dreyfus is a multibillion-dollar global businessman with interests in agricultural, food processing, shipping, and finance. It is the owner and manager of hedge funds, ocean boats, telecommunications infrastructure, and real estate development.

Margarita operated the firm herself for the next decade and did pretty well for a while. She increased her position in the company from 50% to 96% by buying out family members’ stakes. She also spent years fighting with her late husband’s family over the firm. Those legal fights cost her money, and she sold 45% of the company to a sovereign wealth fund in late 2020 in Abu Dhabi.

When Margarita acquired her late husband’s part in Louis Dreyfus, the company was producing hundreds of millions of dollars every year in agriculture, forestry, real estate, and energy trading in the United States. After Robert died, she began directing the company’s strategy, which caused friction with the CEO Robert had left in charge, Jacques Veyrat. Veyrat wished to combine the farming business with an emerging firm called Olam International. Olam was not as huge as Louis Dreyfus, but it was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, providing the Louis-Dreyfus family with a simple and convenient opportunity to sell their holdings following the merger. Margarita, on the other hand, sabotaged the accord, and Veyrat resigned. Margarita stated it was for the sake of Robert’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Almost immediately after the deal was killed, the rest of the family listed some of their holdings for sale. Margarita was obligated to buy the shares at a price established by the company’s valuation and profitability according to an arrangement Robert put in place years before. This was all during the company’s, and the industry’s, golden years.

Margarita paid a high price for the shares. She needed money immediately to buy the family shares, so she began selling possessions. As the agricultural business’s profitability began to decline, her in-laws sold more and more shares. Margarita and Louis Dreyfus had to incur debt in order to purchase the shares. Credit Suisse loaned her more than $1 billion and pledged some of her shares against the debt.