“Extraordinary visionary” grew business from one vessel to third-largest container shipping company in the world.
Jacques R. Saadé, who founded CMA CGM Group and oversaw its rise to becoming a leading container shipping company, died Sunday at the age of 81.
He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1937 and graduated from the London School of Economics in 1957.
In 1978, Saadé moved to France, where he set up the Compagnie Maritime d’Affrètement (CMA).
He began with four employees, one ship and one maritime service between Marseilles, France, and Beirut.
Saadé sent his first ships beyond the Mediterranean and had them cross the Suez Canal in 1983 and launched a service linking North Europe and Asia in 1986.
Anticipating major developments in world trade and convinced that the container would have a determining role in these changes, Saadé opened CMA’s first office in China, in Shanghai in 1992, the company said, and China quickly became the most important market for CMA.
Saadé acquired Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM) when it was privatized in 1996, then merged CMA and CGM, which led to the birth of the CMA CGM Group in 1999.
“This acquisition, a turning point in the group’s history, was the first step in a series of targeted acquisitions that would contribute to positioning CMA CGM Group as a world leader in the shipping industry,” CMA CGM said.
In 2006, CMA CGM Group became the third-largest container shipping company in the world and still holds that slot today. The company’s 494 ships currently serve more than 420 ports across five continents.
“Jacques R. Saadé dedicated his life to CMA CGM. An extraordinary visionary and entrepreneur, he made the group into a world leader in the maritime transport of containers, developing the company in more than 160 countries, while maintaining the family dimension with its values,” CMA CGM said.
In February 2017, he tapped his son, Rodolphe Saadé, to serve as chief executive officer of the CMA CGM Group and appointed him chairman of the board of directors in November.
CMA CGM posted a net income of $701 million in 2017 compared with a $452 million loss the prior year, with revenues for 2017 surging 32.1 percent to $21.12 billion amid a 21 percent boost in box volumes to 18.95 million TEUs.
However, CMA CGM recorded a net loss of $77 million in the first quarter of 2018, compared to an $86 million profit in the same 2017 period, despite revenues ticking up 17.1 percent to $5.41 billion and volumes rising 15 percent to 4.95 million TEUs.
CMA CGM founder Jacques Saadé dies
