Pierre Bilger (May 27, 1940 – March 4, 2011) was a French high-ranking civil servant and businessman. He was a tax inspector and advisor to several ministers. He served as the chief executive officer of

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

from 1991 to 2003.

Early life

Pierre Bilger was born on May 27, 1940, in

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

, France. His father,

Joseph Bilger Joseph Théodore Bilger (1905–1975) was an Alsatian Catholic agrarian activist and autonomist politician during the late years of the French Third Republic. Early life and career He was born in born September 27, 1905, in Seppois-le-Haut. J ...

, was an agrarian politician who received a ten-year jail sentence after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for collaborating with Nazi Germany. Bilger grew up in

Montargis Montargis () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Montargis is the seventh most populous commune in the Centre-Val de Loire ''région'', and the second in the Loiret ''département'' after Orléans. It is near ...

with his mother, his two brothers (economist François Bilger and prosecutor Philippe Bilger), and his sister. Bilger was educated at the Collège Saint-Louis, a Roman Catholic school in

. He graduated from

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

and the

École nationale d'administration The (; ENA; ) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by the then Provisional Government of the French Republic, provisional chief of government Charles de Gaulle and principal co-author of the Constitution of France, 1958 Constitution M ...

Career

Bilger served as a

tax inspector A tax collector (also called a taxman) is a person who collects unpaid taxes from other people or corporations on behalf of a government. The term could also be applied to those who audit tax returns or work for a revenue agency. Tax collectors ...

and he authored a report on the monthly payment of the income tax (as opposed to annually). His report subsequently led to a new law passed by parliament. Meanwhile, Bilger worked for Treasury Minister Jean-Pierre Fourcade, Labour Ministers Michel Durafour and

Robert Boulin Robert Boulin (20 July 1920 – 30 October 1979) was a French politician who served as Minister of Labour in the French Cabinet and was at the centre of a major real-estate scandal that ended only with his death in mysterious circumstances. At t ...

, and Budget Minister

Maurice Papon Maurice Papon (; 3 September 1910 – 17 February 2007) was a French civil servant and Nazi collaborator who was convicted of crimes against humanity committed during the occupation of France. Papon led the police in major prefectures from ...

. Bilger joined

in 1987. He served as its chief executive officer from 1991 to 2003. During his tenure, two of its shareholders,

General Electric Company plc The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an electrical good ...

and

Alcatel Alcatel SA was a French industrial conglomerate active between 1963 and 2006. It has roots to ''Compagnie Générale d’Electricité'' (CGE), a conglomerate founded in 1898 as an early state owned cable and telephone equipment company that lat ...

, divested from Alstom. Meanwhile, Bilger spearheaded its international expansion. Upon his retirement in 2003, he turned down a 4.1 million Euro

golden parachute A golden parachute is an agreement between a company and an employee (usually an upper executive) specifying that the employee will receive certain significant benefits if employment is terminated. These may include severance pay, cash bonuses, ...

because Alstom was experiencing difficulties. Bilger served on the boards of directors of

Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English-speaking countries as SocGen (), is a French multinational universal bank and financial services company founded in 1864. It is registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby i ...

Thales Group Thales S.A., Trade name, trading as Thales Group (), is a French multinational corporation, multinational aerospace and defence industry, defence corporation specializing in electronics. It designs, develops and manufactures a wide variety of aer ...

and

Eurotunnel Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between France and the United Kingdom, operates the LeShuttle railway service, and earns reven ...

. Bilger was the author of two books. He became an Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

and a Commander of the National Order of Merit.

Personal life and death

Bilger was married, and had 5 children. Bilger died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

on March 4, 2011, in Paris. He was 70 years old.

Works

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References

1940 births 2011 deaths People from Colmar Sciences Po alumni École nationale d'administration alumni Inspection générale des finances (France) French chief executives French corporate directors Officers of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Deaths from leukemia in France French energy industry businesspeople Tax inspectors {{France-business-bio-stub