Presentation – Michel Yves Bolloré

Family origins

Michel Yves Bolloré comes from a family of Breton industrialists. The son of Michel and Monique Bolloré, he was born in 1945 as the third of five siblings. He has been married since 1971 and is the father of three children.

Education

After attending Gerson and then Janson de Sailly, he earned a Master’s degree in computer science in 1968. He graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Toulouse in 1969. At the same time, he completed an AEA in Applied Mathematics, followed by a Master’s and a Doctorate in Business Management at Paris Dauphine University, completed in 1973.

Professional career

After completing a year of military service in the French Air Force, he joined the family business, Papeteries Bolloré, in 1973. The struggling company was sold in 1975 to the Edmond de Rothschild Group, which was unable to revive it and ultimately sold it back to the two brothers in 1981 for the symbolic sum of one franc.

From 1981 to 1990, he served as CEO of Papeteries Bolloré and later of Bolloré Technologies, where he oversaw the group’s industrial division.

In 1990, wishing to run his own business, he founded the industrial group France Essor, of which he is Chairman and CEO. Between the 1990s and 2010, the group invested in the paper processing industry with the Claircell and Le Nappage Moderne businesses, in electronic board manufacturing, in surface treatment for the aeronautics industry, and in the manufacturing of industrial rollers with the companies Polimiroir, Ouest-Coating, RCD, and Polimiroir Wujan in China.

In 2000, France Essor acquired Sfar and Civad, companies located in Le Creusot from a family of local industrialists. In 2003, France Essor acquired Creusot Forge and 25% of the Creusot Métal Steelwork from Industeel, a subsidiary of Arcelor, and the same year, Creusot Mécanique from Framatome. These five businesses were consolidated into the holding company Sfarsteel, which experienced strong growth. In 2006, France Essor sold Sfarsteel to Areva.

Michel Yves Bolloré then sold most of his holdings during the 2000s, with the exception of Polimiroir Group. He has lived in London since 2011.

Interested in education, he founded three private schools: The Laurels in London, Agnès School in Brussels, and Les Vignes in Courbevoie.

He helped finance Aleteia, founded by Olivier Bonnassies in 2007, now owned by Groupe Media Participation.

He then began working with Olivier Bonnassies on the book “Dieu, la Science, les Preuves,” first published by Editions Trédaniel in 2021, which has been a great success in Europe with over 400,000 copies sold to date. Now released in english “God, the Science, the Evidence”.

Current functions

Director of StelarLux Investments (Luxembourg)
Director of Pierre Real Estate (Luxembourg)
Director of Smile Invest (Luxembourg)
Director of Polimiroir Group (France)

Medals

Knight of the Legion of Honour (France)