Serge Dassault, who died on May 28th, 2018, at the age of 93, was a billionaire industrialist in the aviation sector, a former Senator and mayor, and the owner of the conservative daily newspaper Le Figaro. Prevented from having a major role the family business empire until the death of his father, Serge Dassault was driven by ambition and the desire to surpass what Marcel Dassault achieved. But despite his undoubted business successes, Serge Dassault's own legacy was tarnished by corruption affairs and allegations of buying votes, and he was convicted of tax fraud in 2017. Mediapart's Yann Philippin, who has spent many years reporting on the 'Dassault method', reports.
One of the symbols of French capitalism, Serge Dassault died following a heart attack on Monday May 28th, 2018. He was 93. Dassault had a variety of different roles and positions in life; he was chief executive officer of the Dassault Group aeronautical empire founded by his father Marcel, owner of the right-wing Le Figaro newspaper, and had been mayor of Corbeil-Essonnes south of Paris and a Senator for the conservative Les Républicains party, as well as being a friend of politicians on both the Right and Left. In this, he represented a very French way of doing business, mixing business and politics at the highest levels of state.
