• Français
  • English
    • English English
    • Français Français
  • Legal conditions
facebook
linkedin
twitter
youtube
  • Who we are
  • Jacques Saadé
  • Vessels
    • CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin
    • CMA CGM Bougainville
    • CMA CGM Jules Verne
      • Inauguration in Marseilles
      • Picture gallery
      • Technical details
      • Innovation & Technology for the environment

Biography of Jacques Saadé, Founder and Chairman of the board of the CMA CGM Group

Founder and Chairman of the board of the CMA CGM Group, Jacques Saadé was born in 1937 in Beirut, Lebanon.

  • The entreprenor

    Jacques Saadé – the entrepreneur

    Having graduated from the London School of Economics (LSE) in 1957, Jacques Saadé took over the family business from his father in 1958.

    In 1978, when the war started in Lebanon, he decided to move to France. In Marseille, Jacques Saadé formed Compagnie Maritime d’Affrètement (CMA), which would later become CMA CGM.

    A visionary and recognized expert in international trade, Jacques Saadé was convinced early on of the need to develop a worldwide shipping Group. Consequently, in 1992, he opened CMA’s first office in China, in Shanghai. China quickly became part of the corporate strategy of the Group which would soon reach the rank of the first container shipping company in France.

    From 1996 to 2008, Jacques Saadé pursued the Group’s expansion via external growth, by operating several successive acquisitions. Firstly, CGM (Compagnie Générale Maritime) joined CMA in the frame of its privatization in 1996. This merger operated in 1999 led to the formation of the CMA CGM Group. The acquisitions of ANL in 1998, of the DELMAS Group in 2005, of CNC (Cheng Lie Navigation Co Ltd.), a Chinese operator, then of the Moroccan shipping company COMANAV, and of US LINES in 2007, are part of a strategy that contributed in advancing the CMA CGM Group to the position of 3rd biggest shipping company worldwide.

  • Jacques Saadé – Captain of industry

    Jacques Saadé – captain of industry

    In addition to overseeing the Group’s rapid development, Jacques Saadé focused on the success of his worldwide shipping Group, by building an efficient fleet of vessels equipped with the most innovative technology. He made the strategic decision very early on for CMA CGM to invest in large containerships and developed a culture and environmental policy to address the issue of climate change.

    In 2012, the CMA CGM Group took delivery of the CMA CGM MARCO POLO, the first vessel in the 16,020 container category, measuring 396 metres in length, and equipped with the latest environmental technology. In 2013, the sisterships of this first true giant of the seas, the CMA CGM ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLT and CMA CGM JULES VERNE, will join the fleet.

    Strongly attached to Marseille, the company’s birthplace, Jacques Saadé decided to build the CMA CGM Tower, the new Head Office of CMA CGM. He entrusted the architect Zaha Hadid (2004 Pritzker Prize) to design the building. Overlooking the port of Marseille, the 33-storey CMA CGM Tower is the Group’s command and control centre and the workplace for 2,400 employees since 2011.

    CMA CGM is today the world’s third largest container shipping company and French market leader.

  • Jacques Saadé – a leader with numerous distinctions

    Jacques Saadé – a leader with numerous distinctions

    Jacques Saadé has received numerous awards in France and elsewhere for his outstanding achievements. In 2007, he was named Personality of the Year by the international magazine Seatrade. He also received the Manley-Bendall award from France’s Académie de Marine and an Honorary Degree from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport in Alexandria.

    In October 2012, Jacques Saadé received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the English container shipping magazine Containerisation International.

    In 2013, Jacques Saade has been awarded of one of the highest and most honorable decorations of the City of Hamburg: “the Admiralitätsportugaleser

    In 2014, Jacques Saade was awarded Doctor Honoris Causa by the Lebanese American University (LAU).

    Jacques Saadé has been President of the France-Lebanese Chamber of Commerce from 1986 to 2014. He is also head of the France-Jordan business leaders’ council within Medef International. Jacques Saadé was made an Officer of France’s Légion d’Honneur in 2009. In 2015, he was appointed Commander of France’s Légion d’Honneur. He also is a recipient of Lebanon’s National Order of the Cedar.

    In December 2016, the Lloyd’s List Magazine listed the Saadé family as the 4th place of the Lloyd’s List One Hundred, an annual classification ranking the most influencial personalities from the shipping industry.

    This very same year, Jacques Saadé was made Commandor of France’s Order of Maritime Merit.


Blog - Articles Jacques Saadé

The inauguration of the CMA CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Friday 19th February 2016 will remain a historical date for the CMA CGM Group and for the U.S. maritime industry. Indeed, 600 guests gathered to attend the inauguration of this giant of the sea. A red
24 Feb, 2016
by CMA CGM
0 Comment
Benjamin Franklin, CMA CGM, CMA CGM Group, CMA CGM USA, Inauguration, Long Beach, POLB, United States, USA

Jacques R. Saadé and the U.S.

Everything started in the 1960s’. Jacques R. Saadé was then student at the London School of Economics. He went to New York in the U.S. for an internship at the maritime company Isbrandtsen, and discov
08 Feb, 2016
by CMA CGM
0 Comment
CMA CGM, CMA CGM America, CMA CGM USA, container, Container ship, Jacques R. Saadé, Malcolm McLean

The best of the CMA CGM Bougainville inauguration

The CMA CGM BOUGAINVILLE, largest container ship in the world sailing under the French flag, was just inaugurated on October 6 by French President François Hollande. Discover the pictures of the inaug
09 Oct, 2015
by CMA CGM
0 Comment
Bougainville, CMA CGM, François Hollande, Jacques Saadé

Eating French cheese all around the world : the CMA CGM Bougainville, helping local companies export their products

We tend to forget how important shipping Groups are in wordwide trade exchanges. While products and expertise may be enough to create demand around the world, a quality transport solution is necessary
01 Oct, 2015
by CMA CGM
1 Comment
CMA CGM, Export, France, Jacques Saadé
1234567

Categories

Recent articles

CMA CGM THEODORE ROOSEVELT: the best of Instagram
07 Sep, 2017
American President Lines: une filiale de CMA CGM
05 Sep, 2017
CMA CGM major actor of the American economy
04 Sep, 2017

RSS CMA CGM News

  • GRR - From Libreville, Gabon to the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East and Intra Africa
  • GRR - From Asia to East Africa
  • FAK Rates - From Libreville, Gabon to North Europe and the Mediterranean

Facebook


© 2015 CMA CGM