François Perrodo (born 14 February 1977) is a French billionaire businessman, racing driver, and car collector. He is the chairman of Perenco, an oil and gas company with operations in 16 countries, which was founded by his father. In December 2022, Forbes estimated his family to be worth US$7.4 billion.

Biography

Origin

François Perrodo was born on 14 February 1977 in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. He is the son of Carrie and

Hubert Perrodo Hubert Perrodo (25 January 1944 - 29 December 2006) was a French businessman, polo player and art collector. He was the founder and sole owner of the oil group Perenco. Early life Hubert Perrodo was born on 25 January 1944 in Larmor-Baden in Mo ...

, French businessman and founder of the oil group Perenco.

Education

François Perrodo has a degree in physics from

St Peter's College, Oxford St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is located in New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom. It occupies the site of two of the university's medieval halls, dating back to at least the 14th ...

, where he captained the University polo team in 1999. He is now a member of

Guards Polo Club The Guards Polo Club is an English polo club in Windsor, Berkshire. It was most closely associated with the British Royal Family. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was President of the club from its formation on 25 January 1955 until his death i ...

. After an engineering degree in 2002 from the École Nationale Supérieure du Pétrole et des Moteurs (ENSPM) now called

IFP School The IFP School (French: ''ENSPM - École Nationale Supérieure du Pétrole et des Moteurs'') is a graduate engineering school located in Rueil-Malmaison, France. Founded in 1954, IFP School is part of the IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN), a French ...

(French Institute of Petroleum), he received an MBA from

INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...

in Singapore.

Business

He is the president of the independent Franco-British oil company Perenco, after his father died in 2006 in a hiking accident near

Courchevel Courchevel () is a French Alps ski resort. It is a part of Les Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski areas in the world. Courchevel also refers to the towns of Courchevel 1300 (Le Praz), Courchevel 1550, Courchevel 1650 (Moriond), and Cou ...

, and has run the family business since 2007.

Car Collection

Perrodo maintains a large collection of historically significant automobiles and is one of the most prolific French car collectors. His keeps cars in both France and the United Kingdom. Perrodo shares photos and stories of his cars and his racing career on his Instagram account. The collection includes: *

McLaren F1 The McLaren F1 is a sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Cars, and powered by the BMW S70/2 V12 engine. The original concept was conceived by Gordon Murray. Murray was able to convince Ron Dennis to ...

#069 *

McLaren F1 GTR The McLaren F1 GTR is the racing variant of the McLaren F1 sports car first produced in 1995 for grand touring style racing, such as the BPR Global GT Series, FIA GT Championship, JGTC, and British GT Championship. It was powered by the nat ...

4R * McLaren F1 GTR 5R *

Ferrari 250 GTO The Ferrari 250 GTO is a GT car produced by Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 for homologation into the FIA's Group 3 Grand Touring Car category. It was powered by Ferrari's ''Tipo 168/62'' Colombo V12 engine. The "250" in its name denotes the displa ...

s/n 3387 (purchased in 2016 for $56.4 million) * Ferrari 250 SWB Competizione * Ferrari 250 SWB Berlinetta * Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder (Grey) * Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder (Black) * Ferrari 275 GTB/2 *

Ferrari 333 SP The Ferrari 333 SP is a sports prototype race car that was built by Italian race car manufacturer Dallara and later Michelotto to compete in the World Sports Car championship for Ferrari. Unveiled at the end of 1993, at the behest of amateur rac ...

Ferrari 288 GTO The Ferrari GTO (often referred to as Ferrari 288 GTO) (Type F114) is an exotic homologation of the Ferrari 308 GTB produced from 1984 to 1987 in Ferrari's Maranello factory, designated GT for Gran Turismo and O for ''Omologata'' (homologated i ...

Ferrari F40 The Ferrari F40 (''tipo'' F120) is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car engineered by Nicola Materazzi with styling by Pininfarina. It was built from 1987 until 1992, with the LM and GTE race car versions continuing production until 199 ...

* Ferrari F40 *

Ferrari F50 The Ferrari F50 (Type F130) is a mid-engine sports car manufactured by Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari from 1995 until 1997. Introduced in 1995, the car is a two-door, two seat targa top. The car is powered by a 4.7 L naturally asp ...

* Ferrari SA Aperta * Ferrari 550 Barchetta Pininfarina * Ferrari

LaFerrari LaFerrari, project name F150 is a limited production mid-engine mild hybrid sports car built by Italian automotive manufacturer Ferrari. LaFerrari means "The Ferrari" in Italian and some other Romance languages, in the sense that it is the " ...

Ferrari Monza The Ferrari Monza is one of a series of cars built by Ferrari. In the early 1950s, Ferrari shifted from using the compact Gioacchino Colombo-designed V12 engine in its smallest class of sports racers to a line of four-cylinder engines designed ...

SP2 * Bugatti EB110 Super Sport *

Bugatti Veyron The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car, designed and developed in Germany by the Volkswagen Group and Bugatti and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti. It was named after the racing driver P ...

16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse *

Bugatti Chiron The Bugatti Chiron is a mid-engine two-seater sports car designed and developed in Germany by Bugatti Engineering GmbH and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. The successor to the B ...

Pur Sport *

Bugatti Centodieci The Bugatti Centodieci (Italian for "110") is a limited production mid-engine sports car produced by French automotive manufacturer Bugatti. The car is a homage to the Bugatti EB110 and a celebration of the Bugatti marque's 110th birthday. I ...

Porsche 910 The Porsche 910 or Carrera 10 was a race car from Porsche, based on the Porsche 906. 29 were produced and were raced in 1966 and 1967. The factory name for the 910 was the 906/10. The 910 was considered the next sequence in the 906 line. Histor ...

* Porsche 917K *

Porsche 911 GT1 The Porsche 911 GT1 is a car designed and developed by German automobile manufacturer Porsche AG to compete in the GT1 class of sportscar racing, which also required a street-legal version for homologation (motorsport), homologation purposes. The ...

Evo * Porsche 911 GT2 993 * Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 997 *

Porsche Carrera GT The Porsche Carrera GT (Project Code 980) is a mid-engine sports car that was manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 2004 to 2006. '' Sports Car International'' named the Carrera GT number one on its list of Top Sports Cars ...

Maserati MC12 The Maserati MC12 (''Tipo M144S'') is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004, with 25 cars produced. ...

* Maserati MC12 (Blue Carbon Fibre) * Maserati MC12 GT1 *

Aston Martin DBR9 The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing, debuting in 2005 and racing actively in international sportscar racing until the end of GT1 category in 2011. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-winn ...

Alpine A110 (2017) The Alpine A110 is a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car introduced by French car manufacturer Alpine at the 87th Geneva International Motor Show in March 2017. Deliveries began in late 2017 for Continental European markets and in ...

Lancia Delta The Lancia Delta is a small family car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Lancia in three generations. The first generation (1979-1994) debuted at the 1979 Frankfurt Motor Show, the second generation (1993-1999) debuted at the 1993 Gene ...

Integrale * 2008 McLaren MP4-23A Formula 1 car driven by Lewis Hamilton, winning Australian and Monaco GP. The collection used to include the following, which have since been sold: *

McLaren P1 The McLaren P1 is a limited-production mid-engine plug-in hybrid sports car produced by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Automotive. Debuted at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, sales of the P1 began in the United Kingdom in October 2013 and all ...

McLaren Senna The McLaren Senna is a limited-production mid-engined sports car manufactured by McLaren Automotive. The car is the third addition in the ''McLaren Ultimate Series'', joining the F1 and the P1; however, it is not a direct successor to either o ...

McLaren 675LT The McLaren 650S is a British sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Automotive. It was announced in February 2014 as a new model, but based on the existing MP4-12C with 25% new parts, and was formally ...

Porsche 918 Spyder The Porsche 918 Spyder is a limited-production mid-engine plug-in hybrid sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche. The 918 Spyder is powered by a naturally aspirated V8 engine, developing at 8,700RPM, with two electric ...

Lamborghini Huracán The Lamborghini Huracán (Spanish for "hurricane"; ) is a sports car manufactured by Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini replacing the previous V10 offering, the Gallardo. The Huracán was revealed online in December 2013, making its w ...

Performante * Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS Black Series *

Lexus LFA The is a two-seat sports car manufactured by Lexus, the luxury car division of Toyota. It is the second model in the F marque line of performance vehicles from Lexus, following the IS F, and also the first standalone Lexus F model. Three con ...

Ford GT The Ford GT is a mid-engine two-seater sports car manufactured and marketed by American automobile manufacturer Ford for the 2005 model year in conjunction with the company's 2003 centenary. The second generation Ford GT became available for ...

(2017)

Racing driver

2013 24 Hours of Le Mans 5110 (9120984022)

Perrodo is a motorsport enthusiast, he started with classic car racing in 2010. He competes in endurance racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship, currently having leveraged his fortune into a ride with AF Corse in the LMP2 class, having initially competed in the GTE Am class from 2013 until 2016. He has taken part in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

, V de V Series, Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, European Le Mans Series (ELMS), United SportsCar Championship and the 24 Hours Series. Perrodo again competed for AF Corse in the

2022 24 Hours of Le Mans The 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 90e 24 Heures du Mans) was a 24-hour automobile endurance event for Le Mans Hypercar (Hypercar), Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) cars that occurred on 11 an ...

, driving the team's No. 83 LMP2 entry. While running side-by-side with the GTE-Pro class leading No. 64 Corvette of Alexander Sims in the final hours of the race, Perrodo swerved sharply left and sent the Corvette crashing into the barriers in the middle of the Mulsanne Straight. AF Corse's No. 51 GTE-Pro entry was running second in class at the time and went on to inherit the class lead from the Corvette.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

Official Company website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perrodo, Francois 1977 births Living people Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford Businesspeople in the oil industry French chief executives French racing drivers European Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers French people of Hong Kong descent People from Singapore 24H Series R-ace GP drivers AF Corse drivers TDS Racing drivers FIA Motorsport Games drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers