Louis Dreyfus Holding B.V. – Company History
Louis Dreyfus is a holding company with managed interests in the operation of a diversified range of companies, but whose main businesses involve agricultural commodities. Founded by Léopold Louis-Dreyfus in 1851 as a global grain merchant, the company’s headquarters are located in The Netherlands.
After growing its grain trading business throughout Europe, the company expanded into North America, South America and Russia under the leadership of Léopold’s sons, Louis and Charles Louis-Dreyfus in 1915. The founder’s three grandsons assumed control of the company in 1940, and by 1969, the company had expanded into commodity markets including rice, cotton and natural gas. The 80s and 90s saw further expansion into energy commodities and telecommunications.
Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, wife of founder Léopold’s great grandson, now serves as Chairperson of the holding company for the Louis Dreyfus group of companies: Biosev, a leading company in the production of sugar, ethanol and energy, and Louis Dreyfus Company, a merchant and processor of agricultural goods.
Biosev manages 313,500 hectares of land and has surplus biomass power generation capacity of 1,346 GWh. The Louis Dreyfus Company is active in over 100 countries and employs approximately 19 000 people globally, with annual revenue of $55 billion.
- Family name: Louis-Dreyfus
- Sector: Power & Utilities
- Founded: 1851
- Founder: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus
- Country: The Netherlands
- Company headquarters: Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Managers: Margarita Louis-Dreyfus
- Revenue: US$55.7 billion
- Rankings: 173 [Forune 500]
- Family ownership: >50%
- Employees: 35,956
- Website: www.louisdreyfus.com
