Barthélémy Guislain was reappointed on Saturday for five years at the head of the Mulliez Family Association (AFM), owner of Auchan, Decathlon and Leroy Merlin, reveals AFP. He “was unanimously appointed by his peers, the nine members of the board of managers, chairman of the board of managers», during an assembly bringing together its members, indicates a Source.
This is the third consecutive election for this 50-year-old man, elected for the first time in 2014, then re-elected in 2019. The AFM is a family galaxy of nearly 900 cousins, at the head of 130 brands, like Saint Maclou, Jules, Kiabi, Pizza Paï or Electro Depot.
A turnover which reaches 100 billion euros
“The 850-900 shareholders of the association elect the nine members of the management board» of the association, recalled this Source. The annual turnover of their companies, which also include Flunch, Weldom and Boulanger, reaches 100 billion euros, for 650,000 jobs around the world.
The members of this economic interest group, founded in 1955, manage their affairs as a family and in the greatest secrecy. A sort of shareholders’ agreement, mixing civil companies owned by the family and holding companies managing the brands.
Only the descendants of the original Mulliez couple, Louis and Marguerite, as well as their spouses, commonly called “added values», are authorized to own stakes, which is the case for Barthélémy Guislain, married to a Mulliez.
The AFM at the heart of an investigation for suspicion of tax fraud
The AFM is at the heart of an investigation carried out in Paris into suspicions of tax fraud, in which several heirs of the family have been indicted. Contacted by AFP at the beginning of May, the family said “totally serene» regarding a procedure according to her “devoid of any basis“.
With 20 billion euros, this family from the North was placed in eighth position among the greatest French fortunes in 2023, according to Challenges.
