MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) – Christophe de Margerie, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the French energy company Total, died on Monday night when his private jet crashed in the Vnukovo-3 Airport in Moscow.
Margerie was born in 1951. He embarked on a career with Total in 1974 after graduating from the Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris, and held various positions in the financial department of the company and in the hydrocarbon survey and extraction division.
In 1995, Christophe de Margerie headed Total Middle East, and in 1999 he became president of the Exploration and Production Division and a member of the board of directors.
In 2000, he was appointed Senior Vice President of the newly organized TotalFinaElf exploration and extraction company.
In January 2002, Christophe de Margerie was named President of TotalFinaElf, which was renamed into Total in 2003.
At a general shareholders' meeting on May 12, 2006, de Margerie was elected to Total's Board of Directors, and on February 14, 2007, he was named President of Total and Board Chairman.
Following a general shareholders' meeting on May 21, 2010, the Board of Directors confirmed his position as Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of Total.
Christophe de Margerie was a cavalier of two French orders - the Ordre of Legion d'Honneur and the Ordre National du Merite.
