French company founders

Jean Adrien Philippe (April 16, 1815, La Bazoche-Gouet, Eure-et-Loir – January 5, 1894) was a French horologist and cofounder of watchmaker Patek Philippe & Co. of Geneva, Switzerland.In 1842, Adrien Philippe invented a mechanism for watches which allowed them to be wound and set by means of a crown rather than a key. His patented invention earned him a Bronze Medal at the French Industrial Exposition of 1844 (World's Fair). At the Exhibition, Adrien Philippe first met Antoni Patek and a year later became head watchmaker at Patek & Co. in Geneva under an agreement that entitled him to one third of all company profits.
Adrien Philippe proved to be very capable at his craft and a product innovator whose value to the firm was such that by 1851 he was made a full partner and the firm began operating as Patek Philippe & Co. In 1863 he published a book in Geneva and Paris on the workings of pocket watches titled Les montres sans clef.
In 1875, Adrien Philippe commissioned a watch that he later gave his daughter, Louise, as a wedding present, which is known as the only wristwatch dating back to be owned by either Patek or Philippe. This historical watch is known as “The Watchmaker’s Daughter” and was auctioned at Sotheby’s in 2023 by the descendants of Adrien Philippe. The watch was purchased most probably by the Patek Philippe Museum though this is not confirmed and may be owned by a private collector. The wedding between Louise and Joseph Antoine Bénassy-Philippe that the watch was presented at is noted as the wedding that saved Patek Philippe by providing the company a much needed successor to Antoni Patek for the company to survive the founding generation.
His partner Antoni Patek died in 1877 and in 1891 the 76-year-old Adrien Philippe handed over the day-to-day management of the business to his son Joseph Emile Philippe and Francois Antoine Conty.Jean Adrien Philippe died in 1894 and was buried in St-Georges Cemetery in Geneva.

Loïc Le Meur (born 14 July 1972) is a French entrepreneur and blogger. He served as Executive Vice President EMEA at software company Six Apart after merging French blogging company Ublog with Six Apart in July 2004. In late 2006 Le Meur became a public backer of French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy and joined Sarkozy's campaign team as an advisor on Internet-related topics.

André Jules Michelin (16 January 1853 – 4 April 1931) was a French industrialist who, with his brother Édouard (1859–1940), founded the Michelin Tyre Company (Compagnie Générale des Établissements Michelin) in 1888 in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand.
In 1900, André Michelin published the first Michelin Guide, the purpose of which was to promote tourism by car, thereby supporting his tyre manufacturing operation.
In 1886, 33-year-old André Michelin abandoned his career as a successful Parisian engineer to take over his grandfather's failing agricultural goods and farm equipment business. Established in 1832,"Michelin et Cie" suffered from neglect and was on the verge of insolvency following the founder's death. Michelin's grandfather had started the company that sold farm equipment and an odd assortment of vulcanized rubber products, such as belts, valves and pipes. As soon as André took the helm of the company, he recruited his younger brother Édouard to join him at the company. Édouard was named the company's managing director. While duly committed to the success of the business, neither brother had any prior experience selling goods or had the slightest idea where to even begin.
In 1889, a cyclist familiar with the Michelin Company approached Édouard with his flat tyre seeking assistance. Getting a flat tyre frequently meant cyclists were left stranded for hours. In the late 1880s, cycling was becoming a popular form of transportation and hobby due in large part to John Dunlop's 1888 patent for the inflatable bicycle tyre. Before Dunlop's invention, bicycle tyres were made out of solid rubber. The solid rubber tyres tended to provide little traction and made for a difficult and uncomfortable ride.
After the hapless cyclist approached the Michelin Company for assistance, Édouard took great interests in the new pneumatic tyres. The Michelins recognized that there would be a great demand for pneumatic tyres if only there was a way to more quickly make repairs. They reasoned that first the wheel must become detachable. Édouard conducted a series of experiments and developed a number of prototypes. In 1891, he was granted a patent for a detachable tire.

André and his brother Édouard were inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan in 2002.

Pierre Jacques Louis Fabre (16 April 1926 – 20 July 2013) was a French pharmaceutical and cosmetics executive and pharmacist, who founded Laboratoires Pierre Fabre in 1962. Fabre, a rugby enthusiast, was also the owner of Castres Olympique, a French rugby union club based in the city of Castres.Fabre founded Laboratoires Pierre Fabre, a major multinational pharmaceutical and cosmetics company headquartered in Castres, in 1962. The company grossed 1.972 billion euros in revenue in 2012. It employs approximately 10,000 people, with 6,700 of those jobs based in France. The success of the company placed Fabre as France's 43rd richest man at the time of his death in 2013.Fabre died in his home in Lavaur, Tarn department, on 20 July 2013, at the age of 87. The French employers' organisation, Mouvement des Entreprises de France, called his death "a huge loss." Castres Olympique's stadium was renamed as Stade Pierre-Fabre in memory of Fabre in 2017.

Jacques Servier (9 February 1922 – 16 April 2014) was a French doctor and businessman. He was the founder and president of Laboratoires Servier, a pharmaceutical company.