February 9 - Jacques Saadé has installed his son Rodolphe Saadé as chief executive officer (ceo) of the CMA CGM Group.
Saadé senior, who remains chairman of the board of directors stated: "Rodolphe has proven himself over the years, and he has my deepest trust as ceo of the group. I know that, with Rodolphe as ceo, with Farid Salem and Tanya Saadé Zeenny, our executive officers, and all our teams around the world, the group will continue its development with the same commitment and passion".
Saadé junior was previously executive officer. After he founded a company selling water coolers in Middle East, he joined the group in 1994 in the USA. He then worked in Hong Kong before relocating to Marseilles to head a shipping line linking Northern China to Japan. From 1997 to 2000, Rodolphe Saadé successively headed different shipping lines.
In 2009, he took over responsibility of the group's financial restructuring. In 2015 and 2016, he successfully led the voluntary general cash offer for Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), a Singapore-based container shipping company. In April 2016, he conducted the talks leading to the signature of the largest operational agreement of the sector with three Asian competitors.
