Scandal-hit French tycoon Bernard Tapie dies aged 78

The long-time Olympique de Marseille FC chairman rose from modest beginnings to become one of France’s most successful and high-profile businessmen

His death on Sunday from stomach cancer prompted an outpouring of condolences from politicians across France’s political spectrum

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Bernard Tapie pictured in 2013 while chairman of Olympique de Marseille football club. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:56pm, 3 Oct 2021Updated: 7:37pm, 3 Oct 2021

French business magnate, actor and former politician Bernard Tapie, whose swagger and made-for-headlines career made him one of the country’s best-known celebrities, died on Sunday four years after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. He was 78.

“Dominique Tapie and his family have the immense sadness to announce the death of her husband and their father, Bernard Tapie, this Sunday,” they said in a statement to La Provence newspaper in Marseille, in which Tapie was a majority stakeholder.

“He left peacefully, surrounded by his wife, his children and grandchildren, who were at his bedside,” the statement said, adding that he wished to be buried in Marseille, “the city of his heart”.

A supporter speaks with a journalist on Sunday near a portrait of Bernard Tapie outside football club Olympique de Marseille’s stadium. Photo: AFP

His death prompted an outpouring of condolences from politicians across the political spectrum, with President Emmanuel Macron hailing an “ambition, energy and enthusiasm that were a source of inspiration for generations of French people.”

“This man, who had a combativeness that could move mountains and take down the moon, never gave up,” his office said in a statement.