5 Facts About Serge Dassault’s Wife Nicole Raffel

Nicole Raffel

Nicole Raffel is the long-time wife of French billionaire Serge Dassault –best known as the chairman of Dassault Groupe, an aerospace, software and media conglomerate that his family controls.

Nicole’s husband is also known as the owner of the country’s oldest daily newspaper Le Figaro, a winery, real estate in Paris, and an art auction house. Her husband was born April 4, 1925 in Paris. His father founded Dassault Aviation, a French aerospace company that started out making propellers in World War I.

Nicole’s husband also dabbled into politics as he served as a senator and a mayor of a town south of Paris. Dassault who according to Forbes had a fortune estimated at $26 billion –died aged 93 and is survived by his wife and children. Find below five interesting facts about her.

#1 Nicole Raffel was married to Dassault for nearly seven decades.

Nicole Raffel and husband Serge were married on July 5, 1950 –making their long-time union lasted 68-years. They were both in their early 20’s when they married.

#2 She and Serge share four children

Nicole gave birth to the couple’s four children; three sons and a daughter: Olivier, Laurent, Thierry, and Marie-Hélène. Olivier was born on June 1, 1954.  Laurent was born on July 7, 1953. Thierry Dassault was born on March 26, 1957.

#3 Her children work in the family business

Thierry serves as the COO of Dassault Group. Oliver is a politician and businessman while oldest brother Laurent, is the Deputy CEO of the Dassault Group and is known for being a passionate collector of art. Marie-Helene joined the Dassault Group in 1991 as Deputy Director of Communications.

#4 Nicole Raffel was married to one of France’s richest man

Mr Dassault led the Dassault group after his father, Marcel’s, death in 1986. The group has numerous firms in aeronautics and armaments and owns the French newspaper, Le Figaro. His worth was estimated at about $26bn-$27bn.

#5 Her husband was found guilty of fraud

Last year, Serge Dassault was found guilty of fraud by a Paris court after failing to disclose the full extent of his wealth to the tax authorities and fined €2m.