Édouard Michelin

Édouard Michelin (; August 13, 1963 – May 26, 2006) was managing partner and co-chief executive of the Michelin Group. He was the great-grandson of Édouard Michelin (18591940), a co-founder of the company.

Career He was born in Clermont-Ferrand; after first studying at Ecole Massillon in Clermont-Ferrand, he entered the Lycée Sainte-Geneviève in Versailles. He also spent almost a full year studying at Christ Church Episcopal School in Greenville, South Carolina. It is there that he gained fluency in English. (Michelin has its North American headquarters in Greenville, and he lived with his relatives who were executives at Michelin in Greenville at the time.)

An engineering graduate of the École Centrale de Paris, he joined the Michelin Group, which was then headed by his father, François Michelin, in 1985. 110 years after the establishment of the company.

Personal life In 1992 he was married to his wife Cécile in a ceremony at Chartres Cathedral presided over by his elder brother, Father Etienne Michelin. He was the father of six children. Fond of theology, Gregorian chants, and mountain walks, he was a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). In April 2005, he was elected to the board of directors of Nokia Corporation at the company's Annual General Meeting. In France, he was given two nicknames by his employees: "Dudu", because of his kindness, and "L'americain", due to his overseas experience.

Édouard Michelin died by drowning, while fishing in the Raz de Sein, near the island of Sein, off the coast of Finistère in northwest France, on 26 May 2006. The skipper of the boat, Guillaume Normant, also died in the accident. In honor of Michelin, the Formula One drivers forwent the usual champagne shower at the award ceremony in the following race in 2006 Monaco Grand Prix.

After his death, Michelin announced that co-managing partner Michel Rollier would head up the company. He is buried in the Orcines cemetery (Puy-de-Dôme).