Overview

• EPO and EU: People Behind the Faces
• Teaser: Thierry Breton and His Disquieting Past

Understanding Thierry Breton

• Part 1: In the Beginning...



• Part 2: “Mister Cash” Arrives at France Télécom



• Part 3: Toxic Management Goes on Trial in France



• Part 4: Moral Responsibility for “a Capitalism That Kills”?



• Part 5: Chirac's Entrepreneurial “Joker”



• Part 6: The “Cost-Killer” Tries to Tame the National Debt



• Part 7: “Rhodiagate” and the Vivendi Universal Affair



• Part 8: Insider-Trading Scandal at EADS



• Part 9: Noël Forgeard and His “Golden Parachute”



• Part 10: What Thierry Did Next...



• Part 11: Atos Healthcare - “The Ugly Face of Business”



• Part 12: Thierry and the $100 Billion Man



• Part 13: Socialising With the Elite



• You are here ☞ Part 14: More Influential Friends in High Places

Further parts pending review and research

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Bernadette Chirac, Karl Lagerfeld, Valerie Breton and Claude Pompidou attend the Chanel Haute Couture Fall-Winter Fashion show during Paris Fashion Week in Paris (6 July 2006).

Summary: "So it comes as no surprise to find Valerie and Thierry rubbing shoulders with members of the Rothschild family at social events."

As we saw in the last part, Thierry and his wife Valerie have a penchant for attending "high society" events organised by the likes of the LVMH Foundation.

Another of these foundations is the Pompidou Foundation which was set up in 1970, by Claude Pompidou, widow of Georges Pompidou who served as Prime Minister under Charles de Gaulle from April 1962 to July 1968 and as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. Before entering politics, Pompidou was the general manager of the Rothschild Frères bank having been recruited by Guy de Rothschild from his job as a teacher in 1953.

"Before entering politics, Pompidou was the general manager of the Rothschild Frères bank having been recruited by Guy de Rothschild from his job as a teacher in 1953."The Claude Pompidou Foundation was set up by Pompidou's widow in 1970 to help disabled children, the elderly and hospitalised.

The foundation has close links with the Chiracs, another prominent political family aligned with the UMP.

Claude Pompidou with Jacques Chirac in September 1999.

Jacques Chirac served as the Treasurer of the Foundation for over three decades.

"As we'll see later on, Thierry Breton also has some close connections to another former French President of the European Patent Office, the notorious Benoît Battistelli."His wife Bernadette Chirac, a regular guest at Foundation events, took over as president of the Foundation, following the death of Mme Pompidou in 2007.

In March 2008, Valerie was spotted sharing a table with the bon viveur Prof. Alain Pompidou, the adopted son of George and Claude Pompidou, at a Gala Evening organised by the Friends of The National Museum of Modern Art at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Valerie Breton with Alain Pompidou at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (March 2008)

This was shortly after Prof. Pompidou had returned to Paris following a three-year sojourn in Munich as President of the EPO between July 2004 and June 2007.

As we'll see later on, Thierry Breton also has some close connections to another former French President of the European Patent Office, the notorious Benoît Battistelli.

Before concluding our look at his influential friends in high places, it's worth recalling that the former Minister for the Economy spent a brief period as a "senior advisor" to Rothschild & Cie Banque after he finished his stint in Bercy in 2007 and before he moved to Atos in 2008.

So it comes as no surprise to find Valerie and Thierry rubbing shoulders with members of the Rothschild family at social events.

Valerie and Thierry rubbing shoulders with the Rothschilds
From left to right: Éric de Rothschild, Arielle Malard de Rothschild, Philippine de Rothschild

It's time now to turn our attention to Thierry's connections in the world of French politics and we will start by looking at a bromance that failed to stand the test of time. ⬆