Thierry Roussel

Infobox_Person


image_size = 150px
name = Thierry Roussel
imagesize =
caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1953|2|16
birth_place = Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
occupation =
spouse = Christina Onassis (1984-1988)
Gaby Landhage (1990-)
children = Athina,
Erik,
Sandrine and
Johanna
relations = Henri Julien Gaston and
Francine Roussel

Thierry Roussel (1953-present) was the fourth husband of Christina Onassis, and the only man with whom she had a child. Their daughter is Athina, who since her marriage uses the name Athina Onassis de Miranda. He is best known as the controversial former co-trustee of his eldest child's famous fortune and for having been involved in a number of legal entanglements with the four Greek trustees. These disputes were mostly ended (or quieted) in 1999 by the court-ordered transfer of Athina's trust into a private auditing firm.

Early life and background

Thierry Patrick François Roussel, was born on 16 February 1953 at Neuilly, near Paris, son of Henry Julien Gaston Roussel, President General Manager of Laboratoires Pharmaceutiques Roussel, and his wife, the former Francine Grinda.

Roussel, studied economics and graduated from high school in 1972. He later attended the University of Assas and studied Economical Science for 3 years.

He has two sisters: Patricia and Christine, the latter of whom was married to the late Duke of Luines. One of his uncles is the veteran Davis Cup tennis player Jean-Noël Grinda. [ [http://worldroots.com/brigitte/famous/a/alessandromancinidesc17.htm Worldroots.com ] ] The Roussel family is part of the Roussel Uclaf pharmaceutical corporation, most famous for the design of the abortifacient RU-486 (mifepristone). [ [http://www1.lexpress.fr/info/region/dossier/nice_alpesmaritimes/dossier.asp?ida=450974 Les Grinda ] ]

First marriage

Roussel married Christina Onassis in 1984. They had a honeymoon in the Caribbean, but their marriage ended in divorce in 1988. Generally, the story is reported the same way: a deeply-in-love (and three-times divorced, disturbed, and drug-addicted) Christina taken advantage of by Roussel, though he was certainly not poor as he had been raised in a very wealthy French family. [ [http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17909-1900129,00.html Onassis girl ignores doubts to wed man 12 years her senior - Times Online ] ] Whatever the truth, there were certainly serious marital problems. Roussel had at least one extramarital affair during the marriage, with former Swedish model Marianne "Gaby" Landhage, who gave birth to their elder two (of three total) children while Roussel was still married to Christina. Christina and Roussel began divorce proceedings eight months after Athina was born. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4DC163BF934A15752C1A96E948260 HEADLINERS; A 3-Year-Old Heiress - New York Times ] ]

Second marriage

Roussel married Gaby Landhage in 1990 in the village church near the Roussels' Bonneville estate. Athina Roussel was a bridal attendant. By then Athina was in her father's custody and was being raised by the motherly Landhage, whose care of her stepdaughter has been widely praised. Gaby and Athina enjoy a warm relationship to this day. Roussel and Gaby now have three children: Erik, Sandrine, and Johanna. The two older children were born during Roussel's marriage to Christina -- Erik in July, 1985, and Sandrine in May, 1987. Johanna was born in July 1991. Roussel and Gaby raised all four children in Lussy-sur-Morges, near Lausanne Switzerland, with ski trips to Saint Moritz and summers on Ibiza or Mustique. To silence critics who claimed that Athina was being isolated from her mother's heritage, the Roussels spent some time on Skorpios and visiting historic places in Athens.

Business career

He created his first company at the age of 22 and then created several publicity space rental companies, AEA, Super-média and Média Center, which were later resold to the Carat Group.citation

In 1987, he decided to reside in Switzerland and created the financial management company SGFC where he continues to act as President at the present time.

He co-managed the Onassis fortune with 4 Greek administrators from 1988 and from 2003 to the end of 2004 he managed this patrimony alone.

In 2003, he created a Fund of Funds called GMT with the participation of numerous international banks.

Roussel has sometimes been derided in the media for certain business decisions. The most legendary one was the investment in strawberry farms in Portugal. Some reports, like the Athens News Agency in 1998, say the result was bankruptcy. Diane Sawyer investigated the situation in doing research for her interview with Athina in 1998, and according to Sawyer, although Roussel did not actually file for bankruptcy, he did sell the strawberry farms at a loss. According to Forbes, it was a US $30 million loss. [ [http://www.forbes.com/2003/03/03/cz_lg_0303athina_print.html Forbes.com - Magazine Article ] ] Roussel used his company, Oderfruta, to invest in the farms, with a borrowed subsidy from the European Union, which hoped that the company might create jobs and stimulate economy in one of the poorest regions of Portugal. Roussel additionally borrowed money from the Portuguese state and a bank, but by 1994, the venture was badly dept-ridden. [ [http://www.hri.org/news/greek/apeen/1998/98-03-11_1.apeen.html Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-03-11 ] ]

Roussel did not let the fiasco discourage him, however. Over the years he has had numerous business interests, from a modeling agency in Paris, boat building in Morocco, and horse breeding. The horse breeding venture naturally overlapped into his daughters' passion (Sandrine's and Athina's) for show jumping. They rode his horses in competitions and Roussel was often photographed with them at those competitions. His other hobbies include motorbikes, boating and automated trading systems.

References

Persondata
NAME= Roussel, Thierry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=businessman
DATE OF BIRTH= 1953-02-16
PLACE OF BIRTH= Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=