Jean-Claude Decaux

Jean-Claude Decaux (15 September 1937 – 27 May 2016)[1] was a French entrepreneur who earned his fortune in advertising.[2][3] He was the founder and honorary chair of the advertising firm JCDecaux, which is now run by his sons, Jean-François Decaux and Jean-Charles Decaux.[2][3]

Jean-Claude Decaux
Born(1937-09-15)15 September 1937
Beauvais, France
Died27 May 2016(2016-05-27) (aged 78)
NationalityFrench
OccupationFounder and CEO, JCDecaux
Net worth$6.2 billion
Children3

Personal life

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]

His death was announced on 27 May 2016.[6][7]

Career

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.[8] He founded JCDecaux in 1964.[9] 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.[10]

In 1980, Decaux personally designed the Sanisette public toilet, a self-cleaning public toilet, as a replacement for the pissoirs of Paris.[4][11]

In January 2015, according to Forbes, he had a net worth of $6.2 billion.[5]

See also
  • French Rich List
  • List of billionaires
  • Sanisette

References
  1. Jean-Claude Decaux, père de l'Abribus et roi de l'affichage publicitaire, est mort (in French)
  2. Forbes profile
  3. BusinessWeek
  4. Peter Hellman (3 May 1993). "The Toilet Wars". New York Magazine: 42.
  5. "Jean-Claude Decaux". Forbes. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  6. http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/27/news/companies/jean-claude-decaux-dies/
  7. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-27/outdoor-advertising-pioneer-jean-claude-decaux-dies-at-78
  8. "History of JCDecaux S.A."
  9. Tina Grant (ed.). International Directory of Company Histories. 76. p. 213.
  10. Roger Parry. The Ascent of Media: From Gilgamesh to Google via Gutenberg.
  11. Clara Greed. Inclusive Urban Design: Public Toilets. p. 80.
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