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Jean Claude Gandur (Oil tycoon, Addax Petroleum produces 130,000 bbl. per day from Nigeria and Sao Tome)
A master stroke. At 60, Jean-Claude Gandur sold his company Addax Petroleum in China's Sinopec to 8.5 billion francs. Principal shareholder, Waldensians and the original cash jackpot for the company he founded in 1994. Active in exploration and oil production, Addax Petroleum has become one of the leading independent in West Africa. In recent years it has expanded its activities in promising areas in the Middle East, including Iraq. Born in Grasse (France), residing in London, Jean-Claude Gandur retains control of Addax Oryx Group. With headquarters in Geneva, this entity is especially active in trading and distribution of hydrocarbons and in the production of bioethanol. ---- Jean-Claude Gandur the footsteps of Bill Gates Exclusive: billionaire Jean-Claude Gandur will devote two thirds of his fortune - 2 to 3 billion francs, according to estimates accounts - to philanthropy and the arts. We know the commitment of the Vaudois resident in London for the Museum of Art and History in Geneva, announced last March. Through the Foundation for Art Gandur (FGA), it will pay up to 40 million francs for the expansion of the institution, where he will deposit a portion of his collection. Today we learn that he will also invest a significant portion of his fortune in philanthropic activities as part of a new foundation under the Swiss constitution. The project will culminate in early 2011. "I let my family the last third of the capital to provide training and protection of future generations. But I do not want a legacy idleness makes them tempting. This is what almost happened to me. At 26, I thought I could recover property from my parents and live in Egypt. But this was not possible. I had to succeed by myself. And I am grateful to life, "says the man who made his fortune in oil, the head of his company Addax Petroleum. Heir protected by law In Switzerland, unlike the U.S., the law protects the heirs who can not be harmed by over 30% of assets. A decision like that of Jean-Claude Gandur can be taken only with the consent of those concerned. "Making this donation to the Swiss company for me is a form of recognition. I arrived in Switzerland at age 11. I could make my middle school in Château d'Oex, in the gym and then in Lausanne. Later I had the opportunity to indulge my passion for beautiful things with my collection. For me, it's clear that it must return to the community, "continued the patron. Jean-Claude Gandur is even more generous than what the Americans call Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. These two men are among the richest in the world last spring launched an appeal to the billionaires of the country, inviting them to give to philanthropic half their fortune. Fortune magazine recounts a dinner held in May 2009 attended by the cream of the haves: Oprah Winfrey, David Rockefeller or Michael Bloomberg and George Soros. The event marked the beginning of a campaign to raise funds by tens of billions of dollars. Why do they want the rich to give? Observers point out that this generosity is also a way to make wealth and social inequality more acceptable, while the U.S. public finances are drowning in deficits. Not to mention that the creation of foundations has tax advantages. But we can not exclude either an awareness level of responsibility. This movement echoes another rich question. "Should he leave his entire fortune to his children?" For Warren Buffett, now 80 years old, the answer is no. The Oracle of Omaha has begun to transmit substantially all of its roughly 60 billion to five foundations. Cultural model "This attitude is the American cultural model. It's every man for himself and God for all. Even in wealthy families, children need their parents to borrow to finance their own studies, "said Daniel Borel. Ranked among the 300 richest, the founder of Logitech has long lived in California. "As for me, I do not think money is the solution to anything. This should be left to his children, they are training, values ??and memories. " A fad? The Waldensians supports various projects at the EPFL, which was inaugurated this year's "Daniel Borel Innovation Center. With his wife Sylvia, the engineer is also the basis of the foundation Defitech, which aims to improve the lives of disabled people through new technologies. A dozen schoolchildren benefit from a program "A School for All". Thus, a girl aged 15, suffered a brain haemorrhage, can now pursue his education in Morges despite his difficulties with writing, using a Tablet PC designed by Defitech. Philanthropy, fashion came from the U.S.? "If I do that, it's no fad, contends Daniel Borel. It is not enough to invest money. For aid to be effective, it takes time and work. " The concern for performance is another trend mediated by the work of husband Bill and Melinda Gates, who work full-time at their foundation. They pride themselves on how to conquer the same rigor as in a private company. The 2010 version philanthropist wants to get involved in projects. This is the case of Ernesto Bertarelli. The former owner of Serono is funding a joint program at the EPFL and Harvard in the field of neuroscience. Emeritus browser, it also supports the creation of a marine reserve in the Indian Ocean. "For our family, it is important to invest in projects that can make a difference to society. We support ideas that affect us and where we can actively engage. "
DONATION Swiss Romand philanthropists among the 300 richest, many people who support various works and institutions. The panel delivered here is obviously not exhaustive. Thus, between 2007 and 2008, the founder of Vibro-Meter Adolphe Merkle has donated to the University of Fribourg 110 million francs to build a research institute in nanoscience. Himself prison visitor, Philippe Nordmann, Maus Frères Group (Manor), created the organization Sid'aide for AIDS patients. There is also a founding member of the Mamco, the Museum of Modern Art in Geneva. Heir of the family Sandoz (Novartis), Pierre Landolt chairs Sandoz Family Foundation, which invests in various fields, from science to culture. He himself is very involved in the development of organic agriculture and sustainable development. Founder of Debiopharm Group and a pioneer in biotechnology, Rolland-Yves Mauvernay has throughout his career supported science and arts. He launched the Debiopharm Life Sciences Award for encouraging young scientists and helped establish a chair of oncology at the EPFL. This fall, the Debio group has donated to high school HES-SO Valais a modern synthesis laboratory. ---- Geneva can enter the top 10 museums in Europe The Museum of Art and History in Geneva has found his patron to fund its expansion. Jean Claude Gandur offers 20 million and make its collections of modern archeology and painting available. The new project path is still long, between threat of referendum and indifference of the rich Genevois. A Champel the heart group's Addax Petroleum, there is an Egyptian alabaster vase of Banded Ptolemaic period, March 1 Roman bronze nude and incredible sacred geese of Amun "One of the key pieces in my collection that I could buy at a ridiculously low price twenty years ago, when I had limited means. That day at the auction at Christie's in London, it had snowed so much that nobody, except my shop, had not moved ... " This sacred goose of Amun, there are only three copies in the world: one in Cairo and one in the Louvre and the third in the series ... our host. It may soon be included in a display at the Museum of Art and History in Geneva, since he just signed an agreement with the City landmark (see page below cons). Who is this mysterious "it"? Behind each of these exceptional objects of ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian is the businessman Jean Claude Gandur (see picture above-cons). One of the five or six greatest art collectors of ancient on the planet. The first in the world in terms of European painting after World War II (Soulages, Hartung, Mathieu Schneider, Degotex particular). Jean Claude Gandur will then instruct the Museum of art and history all its treasures and finance to the tune of 20 million, its extension by Jean Nouvel. How did you come to this association with the Museum of art and history? Many other prestigious institutions more you had to make eye ... I have about 800 pieces of ancient art and hopes to pass 1000. I am a compulsive buyer, you know. My family will put me under guardianship (laughs). A few years ago, I am indeed asked to do my own museum, a sort of mausoleum untouchable in my name ... I have great land Tannay, near Geneva. The place to be. I then inquired about the investment that requires such a case, which, to draw crowds, must also be of high architectural quality, like the Beyeler Museum in Basel. At least 50 million francs, should not be considered. But I was ready and I wanted to allow everyone to finally see the whole of my collection, which is currently in my villa. Would we then had a museum in Tannay Gandur? Yes, if, for once, I had not made an invitation "worldly" I am as usual. It was in 2006. The museum organized a presentation on the New. I was really excited about the architectural design. And I knew immediately that was where I wanted to expose my work. Contact, then, was taken with Caesar Menz, former Director of the MAH, for an association. I offered to officially 20 million francs, while guaranteeing the payment of the shortfall to reach the 40 million private funds needed for the City, in turn, releases the remaining 40 million renovation of the Street building Charles Galland. But from the outset, I did not want that we speak of a Museum Gandur, a stranglehold on the project. I wanted and still want that to be the project of Geneva, they love it and be proud. So you do not pay. You offer everyone the opportunity to see your amazing collection. This is a fantastic opportunity for Geneva, right? This is known in business, win-win! By basing the art collection of the Museum of Antiquity with mine, the MAH will go stratospheric in one dimension, entering without penalty within ten to fifteen most renowned European museums such as the Louvre, the museum of the Acropolis or that of London. On entering the big leagues, we can organize special exhibitions, which I am also committed to funding, since the costs of such events easily exceed 1.5 million francs. We can draw parts that we would never see otherwise in Geneva. The wing will be built by New does so fully booked? Not at all. Quite the contrary. My collection will be exposed even within the one, existing in the AH. There will then absolute consistency. Only a part of 400 m 2 will be devoted to my collection of modern European painting, which has 250 tables, because it forms a whole, a unique approach. The controversy of the looting of art objects is raging. Did you not afraid she catches up with you? Since I started my collection of antiques, I have always tried to pass either by professionals or by auction houses, that is to say to speak to the official channels . In addition, there is now a European passport, issued by the Ministries of Culture of the twenty-seven member countries, allowing free movement of the work. Therefore, if today I were to buy an item with questionable origins, I slay my whole collection. It would be suicide pure and simple. ---- The businessman and collector Vaud, Jean-Claude Gandur will finance the expansion project of the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire of Geneva (MAH) to whom it also offers its collection of archaeological and modern paintings. Jean-Claude Gandur committed in an agreement signed Thursday, March 11, 2010 with the City of Geneva, to invest more than 20 million Swiss francs - more than 13.7 million euros - in the expansion project MAH Jean Nouvel. He agrees to add other private contributions the amount necessary to reach the 40 million required for the project and to fund the museum exhibits. It is also available to the museum - for 99 years - its rich archaeological collections consist of some 800 objects - Egyptian and Roman - and its European paintings after the war including paintings by Soulages, Hartung, Schneider or Marquet and Pissarro. The gift of Jean-Claude Gandur reestablishing the extension project of Jean Nouvel while experiencing the warmth of rich patrons and Geneva objections that could lead to a referendum on whether to continue the project. In an interview with the Tribune of Geneva, he cautions that it is "not a museum Gandur. The new wing he is not completely booked. Its collections will coexist with those already existing museum. Only one room of 400 m² will host its entire collection of modern paintings "because it forms a whole, a unique approach," says he. Jean-Claude Gandur had envisaged the creation of a museum to house his collection and who would be named like the Beyeler Museum in Basel. But "excited" by the project and the architectural design by Jean Nouvel, he preferred to offer his collection to the MAH. Jean-Claude Gandur and unknown to the general public. However, this businessman, born in Alexandria and who made his fortune in oil, is one of the largest collectors of ancient art and paintings by post-war world has inherited his father's passion the collection. www.artclair.com ---- Huge gift for a museum centennial Astute businessman and avid collector, Jean-Claude Gandur recovery expansion project of the Museum of Art and History in Geneva involving 30 million francs on the table "This is a very good day." The magistrates of our township and our municipalities do not often get to say. Yet it's the way Patrice Mugny, the head of the Culture of the City of Geneva, said yesterday the signing a few minutes ago, an agreement made by the City with Jean-Claude Gandur, businessman and collector happy agreement that will undertake the renovation and expansion of an institution that is celebrating its centenary, the Museum of Art and History (MAH), in particular those of its building inaugurated Admiral Charles Street -Galland in 1910. Through his Foundation for Art, Jean-Claude Gandur bring at least 20 million francs, and guaranteed to complement other private contributions already promised (8 to 9 million) to $ 40 million needed to launch the project if a new call to the generosity of sponsors, but also of all citizens, can not be achieved. The expansion of MAH is old hat Geneva. The museum has outgrown its walls for decades. The rooms and the walls are too small. Priceless treasures are relegated to the shadows of reserves (read Saturday's Cultural 23.01.2010). Many facilities are in poor condition, and the museum may date from another era because of important work. There are about ten years, a distinguished international design contest project signed by a star architect Jean Nouvel. The latter proposes an extension to the building, a building built clear in the main courtyard, with a speech to the entrance and in the garden in front of it to accommodate the access and arrange childcare. This solution enthusiasm some, horrifies others, especially some preservationists. She ends up in drawers. There are two or three years, economic euphoria, while a new fever of museums through the world and that projects are multiplying, the idea of ??making its luster to the Geneva-based organization resurfaced. At certain conditions. This now is the way to organize a partnership between government and private initiatives that would divide equally the estimated amount of the project, 80 million francs in total. A Foundation to expand the AH today chaired by Renaud Gautier begins to raise funds. But the financial crisis of autumn 2008 occurs. Followed by another crisis that causes an audit on the management of AH in spring 2009. Departure of its director, Caesar Menz, who led until the case; arrival in September of that year his successor, Jean-Yves Marin. Everything seems to lie dormant. ---- The creation of foundation seems to be fashionable among billionaires. Jean-Claude Gandur (fortune estimated between 2 and 3 billion) has opened in Geneva Foundation for Art Gandur. It is for the encouragement of arts and culture. This Waldensians living in London has also embarked on a major project in Sierra Leone to produce bioethanol from sugar cane. His company provides marketing Addax Bioenergy in the European market of 100 000 m3 of bioethanol in 2012. The investment of 200 million is financed by the European Investment Bank, four EU countries and the African Development Bank. Other new foundation in Geneva, one of the Hinduja family (fortune estimated between 2 and 3 billion). Chaired by Ajay Prakash Hinduja, it aims to provide assistance to the poor and promoting humanitarian projects, including plans and medical school in Switzerland and abroad. Hinduja Bank also expanded its network with the acquisition of Banca Commerciale Lugano. ---
He made billions with the black gold and collect treasures of the Mediterranean. The Swiss businessman of Egyptian origin, will make Geneva a "capital of art." That day, Jean-Claude Gandur has made a strong emotion. Typically, this man with gray hair and rare and slight overweight is high on the rankings of billionaires and economic topics with his band Addax and Oryx. But on March 12, he was the one from the Tribune of Geneva with the trophy collector, it would transform "Geneva Art Capital." In the photo, you can feel proud of his ram-horned head green. One among the 800 items collected from this small oil lamp paleo-Christian received a gift at the age of 9 years. At 61 years, weighted with its masterpieces of ancient art and one of the finest collections of European paintings after the war, here it goes into the club of major sponsors. Of Nicolas de Stael, Hartung, Mathieu Fautrier and others. All will return to the Museum of Art and History (MAH) in Geneva, through its foundation. Gandur is ready to take up to 27 million euros on the table to fund an extension of MAH by Jean Nouvel, Project in arrears for more than ten years. Why leave the woods after so many years to escape the mundane and exploring oil fields in West Africa? This great solitaire has "neither the time nor the inclination to have a social life." "I'm not looking to buy a picture," he swears. Ni strip the walls of its properties. "I will keep the usufruct works in my life and I reserve the right to lend pictures or objects to museums that request it myself," he says. His last purchase was three weeks and still lives. A painting by Jean Dubuffet of 1.50 meters by 2 meters, entitled Spouses visit. "I still need to watch it. It is important because it closes the movement of lyrical abstraction of the postwar period. There are only two in the world of this format. The other is at the Tate London.'s my thumbs its nose at Beaubourg! " His passion for art goes far beyond the good shots. "If I had not had to leave Alexandria at age 12, I would have a son and dad I never would have started my collection of antiques. It was for me a form of therapy of paradise lost." In Gandur, everything takes root at the mouth of the Nile during the Egyptian campaign of Napoleon. Until their name, a surname of borrowing which means "lovable" in Arabic. Her maternal family, the Bokhanoff, former owners of the docks of Odessa, had taken refuge there after the Russian Revolution and Turkish. His father also. It boasts Italian and Austrian ancestors and proximity to the Austrian imperial family who knighted in 1863. In Egypt, Gandur grow cotton in the Delta and camped in the Rothschilds of the East. He himself was born in Grasse in the Alpes-Maritimes, but Italian as his father and grandfather. Later, he became Swiss and Egyptian family to recover the lands nationalized by Nasser. Until 1961 he lived in a cocoon between ten servants, three cars and high school French. "I found myself in Switzerland, the mountains, in a district school near my parents. In my life I had never felt so insecure." Young man, he studied law at the University of Lausanne and a degree in history begins in Paris with the desire to teach. Her bridge parties in Saint-Cloud with Sacha Gueronik, head of the Intergovernmental Council of Copper Exporting Countries (CIPEC) and stepfather of Jean-Pierre Fourcade him out of his thesis on "Mary, daughter of Isis." "One day I asked Sasha if he had an idea for me. I had to work, all our money was blocked in Egypt," he recalls. Why not Philipp Brothers, the famous trader of raw materials that formed all oil traders, with their father at all, American Marc Rich? "For three months, I carried the bundles of papers from one office to another." Eight years later, he mastered all the tricks of the trade. Gold, oil, copper, ferrous metals. Above all, he discovered Africa. Jean-Claude Gandur is not a man shields or mathematical equations. It operates "personal contact" and became friends with African thirties who worked in state companies before becoming ministers. In 1987 he founded his company Addax and Oryx, the names of two African antelopes, and began trading oil. In 1994, he bought for $ 13 million in four concessions in Nigeria to the U.S. company Ashland. It radiates soon throughout West Africa and to Kurdistan with the oil fields of Taq Taq. Sold a portfolio of $ 8 billion last year to Chinese Sinopec. "I like to build, from scratch on a project and then sell it. We need to grow money. With new business, I can recreate the many interesting by taking fewer risks," he summarizes. "It was not an obsession but an accumulation of the success of its business," said Francois Jaclot at the head of one of its subsidiaries in London that specializes in growth capital. His African Affairs gave him a slight odor of sulfur. As these suspicions of corruption in Nigeria he denies. "We can do business properly in Africa. Simply put barriers. I bought my concessions to foreign companies in Nigeria and Iraq and listed in Gabon and have never known Nigerian President Sani Abacha and Saddam Hussein ". Two of its executives were convicted in 2001 but neither he nor his company have been prosecuted because of its Nigerian operations. Today, the page is far from African tour. It has created a petroleum company called Nyala antelope another, continues trading in 18 African countries, sells fuel and bottled gas and put 50 million euros in a large bioethanol project in Sierra Leone . Although he denies it, Jean-Claude Gandur began organizing its visibility after the death of his parents two years ago. "You become the family head and you begin to look back," cried he in tears. The 1.8 billion won in thirty years thanks to oil has propelled the top fifteen Swiss fortunes and 23rd place in England, where he lived for ten years. His family office began investing in stone for the long term. And three personal foundation will work for posterity. His family (he has an adopted son), youth and art. The money must flow. ---- A very secretive tycoon Jean Claude Gandur, Vaudois original, will hit 2 billion by selling Addax Petroleum to Chinese ean Claude Gandur has yet to reap billions. This discreet Midas sold its subsidiary Addax Petroleum Wednesday to the Chinese company Sinopec for the modest sum of 8.1 billion francs now. On this sale, $ 2 billion enrich Gandur personal fortune, already estimated by Forbes magazine at $ 2 billion francs in 2008. "A record amount for the acquisition of a foreign group," Do we swagger in Addax Oryx, which is headquartered in Geneva, where 212 people work. But the group is registered in the Virgin Islands. A nice tax haven for a company whose CEO, Jean Claude Gandur, 60, lives in London, also for reasons of tax avoidance ... Gold as rice In 1987, Gandur starts his account and set up his group, Addax Oryx, with three partners. Jean Claude Gandur brews all in his company: gold as rice. But by 1994, its subsidiary Addax Petroleum, registered it in Canada, a hit in the oil or gas. This increase actually salivate more than one. In 1998 it produced 8,800 barrels per day. Ten years later, she averaged 134,000 barrels daily. Of the fifteen African countries where it conducts its affairs, Jean Claude Gandur beats very large competitors like BP or Shell. He won contracts in areas called "difficult" as Sierra Leone or Côte d'Ivoire. Jean Claude Gandur book in 2005, the keys to his success in latribune Geneva. "You have to love Africa and Africans, develop a more personal and emotional. It must also have strong nerves: you sometimes receives threats of blackmail. What amuses me is to go where nobody goes. "Jean Claude Gandur even have a diplomatic passport from Senegal. He was elevated to the rank of Grand Officer of the Ordre National du Lion of Senegal. Jean Claude Gandur has also served as Honorary Consul of the Republic of Congo in Geneva between 1990 and 2001. The redemption of Addax Petroleum, which is resistant to the crisis, has yet to have the green light from Beijing. If, on Aug. 24, the required authorizations were not obtained, Sinopec would have to pay 300 million Canadian dollars in compensation to Addax Petroleum. -> Created for Jean Claude Gandur |
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