Gérard Mulliez

Gérard Mulliez was born on 13 May 1931 in Roubaix, France. His father, Gérard Mulliez, was the owner of Phildar, a knitting yarn brand founded by his grandfather, Louis Mulliez-Lestienne.[1][2] His uncle, Louis Mulliez, was the owner of the Saint-Liévin factory in Lille.[1] Gérard Mulliez has five siblings.[1]

Mulliez had reportedly bad grades at school.[1] He spent a year in England, where he learned to play rugby and pool, and learned to speak English.[1] He failed his Baccalaureate.[1][2]

Mulliez started his career working for his father's company, working his way up until he became its Chairman.[1][2]

In 1961, at the age of twenty-nine, after witnessing department stores on a trip to the US, he opened his first Auchan store in Roubaix, France.[3] He retired as chairman in 1996 and as CEO in 2006 handing over control to his nephew, Vianney Mulliez.[3]

His holding Association Familiale Mulliez (AFM) controls Auchan as well as a diverse mix of other retail chains such as Leroy Merlin, Decathlon, Saint Maclou, Kiloutou, Kiabi, Flunch, etc.[4] It is co-owned between a thousand family members.[4] Six hundred of his cousins are millionaires as a result.[2]

In 2004, he was the recipient of the Légion d'honneur.[5]

In 2022, retailers founded or part-owned by Gérard Mulliez, including Auchan, Decathlon and Leroy Merlin, have been criticized for refusing to pull out from the Russian market as a result of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine[6] and even supporting the invasion through its Russian subsidiary [7]

According to Challenge Magazine, he was worth 19 billion Euros in 2013, 20 billion Euros in 2014, and according to Capital, nearly 40 billion Euros in 2016[8] making him the first richest person in France.[4][9][10] According to Capital, the Mulliez family was the richest family in France in 2014.[11] According to Hurun Report, he is 18th richest person in the world with a net worth of US$30 billion.[12] Some of his family members reside in Néchin, Belgium.[1][2]

He has revealed that he has also spent less than he earns,[13] and reinvests most of his earnings.[1] He added that most of his wealth is tied up in family shares, and he would not be able to spend much of it.[1] He is in favour of taxing annual incomes upwards of 500,000 Euros, but not dividends on investments, arguing that this would scare investors away.[1]

On 21 February 2015, he paid a personal visit to the youth wing of the French Communist Party in Lille to protest about a poster accusing him of profiting from the financial crisis, as he got richer while his employees saw their spending power diminish.[9][14] He argued that he employed a lot of people, adding that by the time he was their age, he had already opened his first store.[9][14]

Mulliez and his wife have three children. They reside in Croix near Lille and own another house in the South of France.[1] They are practising Roman Catholics.[1] He enjoys spending his weekends biking and hiking in the countryside.[1]

• La Dynamique du client, Richard C. Whiteley and Gérard Mulliez, interview with Jean-Pierre Thiollet, Maxima, 1994[15] and 1997.[16]

• List of French people by net worth