Jean-Claude Decaux
Jean-Claude Decaux | |
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Born | Jean-Claude Jacques Decaux 15 September 1937 |
Died | 27 May 2016 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France | (aged 78)
Occupation(s) | Founder and CEO of JCDecaux |
Spouse | Danièle Piraud |
Children | 3 |
Jean-Claude Decaux (15 September 1937 – 27 May 2016)[1] was a French businessman and [2][3] founder of advertising company JCDecaux. The company is now run by his sons, Jean-François Decaux and Jean-Charles Decaux.[2][3]
Personal life
[edit]Jean-Claude Decaux was the son of a shoe salesman in Beauvais, France.[4]
He was married with three children and lived in Paris.[5]
He died on 27 May 2016 aged 78.[6][7][8]
Career
[edit]At the age of 18, inspired by an argument with his father over the family shoe store's window display, Jean-Claude started a business creating billboards along French roadways.[4] In 1963, legislation in France placed restrictions on billboard use which forced Decaux out of business.[9] He founded JCDecaux in 1964.[10] He made a deal with the city of Lyon, proposing that he would build bus shelters and keep them clean in exchange for advertising space there. The company quickly expanded to other cities.[11]
In 1980, Decaux personally designed the Sanisette public toilet, a self-cleaning public toilet, as a replacement for the pissoirs of Paris.[4][12]
In January 2015, according to Forbes, he had a net worth of $6.2 billion.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Jean-Claude Decaux, père de l'Abribus et roi de l'affichage publicitaire, est mort (in French)
- ^ a b Forbes profile
- ^ a b BusinessWeek[dead link]
- ^ a b c Peter Hellman (3 May 1993). "The Toilet Wars". New York Magazine: 42.
- ^ a b "Jean-Claude Decaux". Forbes. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^ "Ad tycoon Jean-Claude Decaux, pioneer of self-cleaning public toilets, dies at 78". 27 May 2016.
- ^ "Outdoor-Advertising Pioneer Jean-Claude Decaux Dies at 78". Bloomberg.com. 27 May 2016.
- ^ Eléanor Douet (27 May 2016). "Jean-Claude Decaux, l'inventeur de l'Abribus, est décédé à l'âge de 78 ans". RTL (in French).
- ^ "History of JCDecaux S.A."
- ^ Tina Grant, ed. (February 2006). International Directory of Company Histories. Vol. 76. p. 213. ISBN 9781558625808.
- ^ Roger Parry (22 September 2011). The Ascent of Media: From Gilgamesh to Google via Gutenberg. ISBN 9781857889468.
- ^ Clara Greed (June 2007). Inclusive Urban Design: Public Toilets. p. 80. ISBN 9781136396182.