Pierre Castel

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Pierre Castel
Pierre Castel 2019 (cropped).jpg
Pierre Castel in 2019
Born
Pierre Jesus Sebastian Castel

(1926-10-17) October 17, 1926 (age 98)
NationalityFrench
OccupationBusinessman
Known forFounder, Castel Group

Pierre Jesus Sebastian Castel (born 17 October 1926) is a French billionaire businessman, [1] best known as the founder of the Castel Group, one of Europe's largest wine producers and a major player in the global beverages industry. Under his leadership, the group expanded from a family-owned Bordeaux wine business into an international conglomerate active in wine, beer, and soft drinks, with a particularly strong presence in Africa and Europe. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

Pierre Castel was born Jesus Sebastian Castel [4] on 17 October 1926 in Berson, near Bordeaux. [2] He was the sixth of nine children in a family of Spanish agricultural workers who had emigrated to France in 1914. His parents settled in the vineyards of Bourg-sur-Gironde, where Castel began working at the age of twelve. [2]

In 1947, at the age of nineteen, he established a small wine trading business that supplied local grocers and wine merchants in the Bordeaux region. In 1949, he and his eight siblings formally founded Castel Frères, which later became the Castel Group. [2] [3]

Career

Castel is CEO and president of Patriarche, and the president of Cassiopée Limited, which has a global presence in the beverage industry. He is also the founder and president of Castel-Frères, with roots in the wine and spirits sector. He has been involved in the beverage industry for over 60 years, specializing in breweries, wineries, and carbonated drinks. [5]

One of the keys to Castel Group's success is its vertically integrated business model, which encompasses everything from vineyard ownership and wine production to distribution and retail.

According to Forbes, Castel and his family had a net worth of $15.6 billion as of November 2019. [1] They are listed at number 125 on Forbes's list of global billionaires, and ranked the 6th richest in France. [1]

He has been named in the Pandora Papers. [6] [7]

Personal life

Castel is married and lives in Geneva, Switzerland. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "#125 Pierre Castel & family". Forbes. 22 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Les petits secrets de Pierre Castel, le baron du vin en France - Capital.fr". www.capital.fr (in French). 8 November 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  3. 1 2 Blamangin, Olivier (1 October 2018). "Castel, l'empire qui fait trinquer l'Afrique". Le Monde diplomatique (in French). Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  4. ↑ "Le milliardaire Pierre Castel « en règle » avec le fisc genevois, selon son avocat, après avoir été condamné à verser plus de 350 millions d'euros" (in French). 11 August 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  5. ↑ "Pierre Castel: Chief Executive Officer and President, Patriarche". Executive Profile. Bloomberg Business. 22 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Pandora Papers reporting from across Africa - ICIJ". 23 November 2021.
  7. ↑ "Archives des Pandora Papers - CENOZO".
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