Thierry Desmarest
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Thierry Desmarest (18 December 1945 – 9 January 2024) was a French businessman. He was a honorary chairman of
Total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...
and its chief executive officer from May 1995 until February 2007, when he was replaced by
Christophe de Margerie Christophe de Margerie (, 6 August 1951 – 20 October 2014) was a French businessman. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of French oil corporation Total S.A. Early life Christophe de Margerie was born in Mareuil-sur-Lay-D ...
. via Answers.com. In 1999, Desmarest had led the TotalFina oil company through the acquisition of a Belgian oil company, Petrofina, for $12 billion. In July 1999, Desmarest had also led the TotalFina enterprise through the acquisition of Elf Acquitaine for $44 billion. It was this procurement that raised TotalFina to the fourth largest oil company in the world. Desmarest had multinational and intercontinental experience within the oil industry. As a head of the exploration and production department at TotalFina he was stationed in Venezuela and Algeria. During his time overseas, he procured oil and gas reserves to add to Totalfina's oil supply. In 1995, Desmarest he closed a landmark deal with
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
in Iran making Totalfina the first oil company outside of Iran to drill for oil since 1979. Desmarest's contemporaries nicknamed him "Le Petit Prince" (The Little Prince). His position as chairman of the board of directors of Total expired on 18 December 2015, in line with the age limits specified by the group. Thierry Desmarest remained honorary chairman of Total and as a director until the annual shareholders’ meeting on 24 May 2016. Desmarest died from complications of Alzheimer's disease on 9 January 2024, at the age of 78.


References

1945 births 2024 deaths École Polytechnique alumni Mines Paris - PSL alumni Corps des mines French chief executives TotalEnergies people Air Liquide people Officers of the Legion of Honour 20th-century French businesspeople 21st-century French businesspeople Businesspeople from Paris Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in France Deaths from dementia in France {{France-business-bio-stub