Jérôme Armbruster created HelloWork in 2000. In a few years, his company, which employs 530 people, has become one of the leading private employment sites in France. But the success story of the Breton businessman came to a tragic end on the night of Thursday to Friday. Shortly after midnight, the 50-year-old was struck down by a 20-year-old driver while he was crossing a pedestrian crossing with his bike in Rennes. The motorist, who was arrested, was drunk, had consumed drugs, and no longer had a license.
Like Jérôme Armbruster, other emblematic bosses have died in brutal circumstances in recent years while they were in business.
Sanjay Shah
A few days ago in India, the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Viste company, specializing in consulting, turned into a nightmare. Its CEO, Sanjay Shah, 56, fell to his death in front of the helpless gaze of his employees, gathered to celebrate the event in the film studios of Ramoji Film City, in India. The business leader was on board a basket alongside his vice-president, Vishwanath Raju Datla. But the cable holding them suddenly gave way and the two men fell more than four meters high. Sanjay Shah, who fell on his head, died on the spot. Vishwanath Raju Datla is in critical condition.
Christophe de Margerie
Nicknamed “Big Mustache”, Christophe De Margerie became general director of Total in 2007 then CEO of the French oil group in 2010. Four years later, he died, at the age of 63, during a plane crash in Russia. . It was almost midnight on October 20, 2014, when the Falcon he was aboard took off from Moscow. Suddenly, the private jet hits a snowplow whose driver is drunk. The plane crashes on the tarmac and catches fire after an explosion. Four people died in this accident, including three crew members. The President of the Republic, François Hollande, the Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, the Emir of Qatar, the director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde… Many personalities attended the ceremony celebrated at the Saint-Sulpice church in Paris a few days later.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha
Its name may not mean anything to you. But Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha reigned over the duty-free sector in Thailand for thirty years. In August 2010, this businessman bought the English football club Leicester City for around 40 million pounds. Nobody bet on this English club which was then playing in the second division. But his new boss managed to make him the most improbable Premier League champion of all time, in 2016.
On October 27, 2018, after the match where his team hosted West Ham, the CEO of King Power International Group took off from the pitch of the King Power Stadium aboard one of the two helicopters belonging to him. Suddenly, the device starts spinning. It crashed in the club grounds, near a parking lot intended for club management, and caught fire, causing the death of its five occupants. A mechanical failure was the cause of this accident. Aged 60, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was the fifth richest man in Thailand, with a fortune estimated in 2016 at nearly three billion dollars.
Édouard Michelin
He was the heir to the Michelin dynasty. In 1999, Edouard succeeded his father, François, at the head of the world number one tire manufacturer which employs more than 130,000 people worldwide. Seven years later, he suddenly disappeared during a fishing trip off the island of Sein (Finistère) at the age of 42. On May 26, 2006, he went fishing for line bass with a fisherman friend, Guillaume Normant. Suddenly, their boat, a filleter-liner, is shipwreck in mysterious conditions. The wreck was found lying 70 meters deep in one area, with no apparent damage. The body of Edouard Michelin was found the next day, while it was floating about ten kilometers from the island. Since then, the Michelin family no longer runs the company, founded in 1889 by André and Édouard Michelin.
Jean-Claude Olivier
For 45 years, Jean-Claude Olivier was the boss of Yamaha Motor France. Passionate about motorcycles, the northerner has participated in several competitions to promote his brand. He even placed second in the Paris-Dakar in 1985. In 2013, three years after passing the reins of his company to his successor, Éric de Seynes, he died tragically in a common road accident in Wancourt (Pas-de-Calais) on the A1 motorway.
Jimi Heselden
Honestly, who has ever used a Segway? Not many people, probably, apart from a few tourists in the park of the Palace of Versailles and a few municipal police officers. It must be said that we don’t really look smart on this machine which allows you to move around by tilting your body in the desired direction. Jimi Heselden believed in the potential of these self-balancing scooters. So much so that the British multimillionaire bought the company at the end of 2009. He was badly offended. On September 26 of the following year, while he was riding near his home on one of these vehicles, Jimi Heselden fell off a cliff. His body was found in a river, the River Wharfe, in the county of Yorkshire, in the west of England. He was 62 years old.