Margarita Louis-Dreyfus
Russian-born Swiss billionaire and chairperson of the Louis-Dreyfus Group.
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Margarita Louis-Dreyfus was born Margarita Olegovna Bogdanova on 1 July 1962 in Leningrad. Raised by her grandfather, an electrical engineer, she studied law in Moscow and economics in Leningrad. She met her future husband, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, on a flight from Zurich to London in 1988. They married in 1992, and she left her job at a circuit-board equipment seller to become a full-time wife and mother. They had three sons, including Kyril, now chairman and majority shareholder of Sunderland AFC.
When Robert learned he had leukemia in 2007, he brought Margarita into the management of the Louis-Dreyfus Group. After his death from the disease on 4 July 2009, she inherited the group and became its chairperson. She also became the majority shareholder of the French football club Marseille, which her husband had owned since 1996. On 29 August 2016, she and Marseille’s mayor, Jean-Claude Gaudin, announced alongside Frank McCourt that McCourt had agreed in principle to buy the club. The deal closed on 17 October 2016 for a reported €45 million.
A Swiss citizen living in Zurich with her three sons, Margarita later partnered with Philipp Hildebrand, former head of the Swiss central bank; they have twin daughters born in 2016. She is also, by marriage, the second cousin once removed of American actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus. As of 2026, Forbes estimates her net worth at US$5.8 billion.
- Born
- 1 July 1962
- Field
- Business
- Nationality
- Russian-born Swiss
- Known for
- Chairperson of the Louis-Dreyfus Group; former majority shareholder of Marseille football club
Lore & Background
Margarita Olegovna Bogdanova was born in Leningrad and raised by her grandfather, an electrical engineer. She studied law in Moscow and economics in Leningrad. In 1988, on a Zurich to London flight, she met Robert Louis-Dreyfus, whom she married in 1992; they had three sons, including Kyril, who became chairman and majority shareholder of Sunderland football club. Before marriage, she worked for a circuit-board equipment seller, then became a full-time wife and mother.
Reader's Guide
Margarita Louis-Dreyfus inherited the Louis-Dreyfus Group and majority ownership of Marseille football club upon her husband's death from leukemia in 2009. Her husband had integrated her into the group's management in 2007 after learning of his illness. She oversaw the sale of Marseille to Frank McCourt in 2016 for 45 million euros, a transaction announced with Marseille's mayor. Her significance lies in her leadership of a major global commodities firm and her role in the ownership transition of a prominent European football club.
Did You Know?
- She met her husband, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, on a Zurich to London flight in 1988.
- She became heiress to the Louis-Dreyfus Group and majority shareholder of Marseille football club after her husband's death in 2009.
- She has twin daughters born in 2016 with her partner Philipp Hildebrand, former head of the Swiss central bank.
- She is the second cousin once removed (by marriage) of American actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
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