It was exactly on October 17, 2016 that OM was bought by American businessman Frank McCourt. Robert Louis-Dreyfus, then president of adidas, bought the Marseille club for a symbolic euro in December 1996, definitively placing the Phocéens at the forefront of French football. In 2009, upon the death of “RLD”, his wife Margarita became the owner of Olympique de Marseille and, in a twist of history, the team was (finally) crowned champion of France during the season.
Margarita Louis-Dreyfus ended up escaping this immense ordeal. There have been numerous sporting crises, much to the anger of supporters, and it is clearly the internal war between Pape Diouf and Vincent Labrune which has pushed the club into the void for several years. The former players' agent brought in Didier Deschamps before leaving office in June 2009, a few weeks before the death of Robert Louis-Dreyfus.
Officially president of OM from 2011 to 2016 – and seeming very close to Margarita – Labrune managed the club in a chaotic manner, thanks in particular to his relationships with certain agents. For example, he had the merit of hiring Marcelo Bielsa in 2014, a coach who capsized the Stade Vélodrome with his offensive football, but while keeping control of the transfer window. He did not recruit any of the 12 players proposed by “El Loco” and brought in Doria without the validation of the furious Argentinian.
Ultimately, Vincent Labrune lost all the trust of the owner and was never kept informed of the decision to change everything. On April 16, 2016, the “Tsarina” formalized the process of selling OM (by explaining that “the time of patrons is over”). Stupor at the club headquarters. Vincent Labrune and his number 2 Luc Laboz are amazed. “I have just had Igor Levin, Margarita Louis-Dreyfus’ advisor, who confirmed to me that the press release was indeed authentic”explained Mr. Laboz to World.
Margarita sad, Labrune disappears
Frank McCourt entered into exclusive negotiations with Margarita Louis-Dreyfus and, on August 29, 2016, the widow of “RLD” took the Bostonian and Jacques-Henri Eyraud to the mayor of the Marseille city, Jean-Claude Gaudin. “It’s a sad day for me and for my sons”reacted the Russian by birth, specifying that her family kept 5% of the club (for her son Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, crazy about OM). Vincent Labrune and his team worked freely while waiting for the arrival of new management in October.
Margarita Louis-Dreyfus is today presented as one of the richest women in France, even though she is now a Swiss citizen and resides in Switzerland. She is the CEO of the Louis-Dreyfus group, a raw materials trading giant, of French origin but based in Amsterdam. Forbes displays a fortune of 5.2 billion for the Louis-Dreyfus family (the children probably have French nationality).
