Gérard Louis-Dreyfus
Gérard C. Louis-Dreyfus, also known as William Louis-Dreyfus, was a French-American businessman. His net worth was estimated at $3.4 billion by Forbes in 2006. He was the chairman of Louis Dreyfus Energy Services and the great-grandson of Léopold Louis-Dreyfus, founder of Louis Dreyfus Group. He is the father of actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Life and career
Louis-Dreyfus was born in Paris in 1932. His great-grandfather Léopold Louis-Dreyfus founded the Louis Dreyfus Group in 1851. His mother, Dolores Porges, was American-born, the daughter of a Brazilian father and a Mexican mother. His father, Pierre Louis-Dreyfus, was a Frenchman who headed the Louis Dreyfus group. Pierre, who was Jewish, fought in the French Resistance during World War II; his mother was Catholic. He has one sister, Dominique Cornwell.Another cousin is Robert Louis-Dreyfus, the former chief executive officer of Adidas and ex-Chairman of French football club Marseille.
In 1940, Louis-Dreyfus moved to the United States with his mother after her divorce from Pierre. By 1945, he had adopted the name William as a symbol of his integration into American society.
After graduating from Duke University and Duke University School of Law, Louis-Dreyfus worked at the law firm of Dewey Ballantine, New York, before joining Louis Dreyfus in 1965. He was chairman of the Poetry Society of America from 1998 to 2008. He had poems published in publications such as The Hudson Review.
Politics
In October 2012, Dreyfus published a full-page ad in The New York Times titled "A Call To Arms To The Wealthy To Protect The Right To Vote" encouraging wealthy people in the United States to fight voter suppression. Dreyfus himself donated $1 million.Dreyfus was on President Richard Nixon's enemies list.