Jean-Louis Gergorin
Encyclopedia
Jean-Louis Gergorin is a former French diplomat and former executive vice president of EADS
EADS
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. is a global pan-European aerospace and defence corporation and a leading defence and military contractor worldwide...

 – the giant European aerospace company that controls Airbus
Airbus
Airbus SAS is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Blagnac, France, surburb of Toulouse, and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners....

. He is also the whistleblower of the Clearstream Affair
Clearstream affair
The "Clearstream affair" was a political scandal in France in the run-up to the 2007 presidential election.The name refers to the Luxembourg bank Clearstream Banking S.A., now wholly owned by Deutsche Börse, which was alleged to have aided many prominent French politicians and companies evade taxes...

; a money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...

 scandal that has garnered international attention and disturbed the French political scene.

Education

Mr. Gergorin was educated at two top French schools, the École Polytechnique
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...

 and École Nationale d'Administration
École nationale d'administration
The École Nationale d'Administration , one of the most prestigious of French graduate schools , was created in 1945 by Charles de Gaulle to democratise access to the senior civil service. It is now entrusted with the selection and initial training of senior French officials...

. Mr. Gergorin was also a research fellow at the RAND Corporation and the John F. Kennedy School of Government and is a graduate of the Executive Education Program at Stanford Business School.

Career

In 1973, Mr. Gergorin was cofounder and deputy head of the Policy Planning Staff of the French Foreign Ministry. From 1979 to 1984 he was Director of Policy Planning and of the CAP
Analysis and Forecasting Centre
The Analysis and Forecasting Centre is a French government think-tank. It was set up in July 1973 by the then Foreign Minister, Michel Jobert. It analyses the international environment, makes strategic recommendations and guarantees a French presence in European and international circles of...

 – reporting directly to the French Foreign Minister.

In November 1984 he joined the aerospace group Matra
Matra
Mécanique Aviation Traction or Matra was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weaponry. In 1994, it became a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group and now operates under that name.Matra was owned by the Floirat family...

 as Senior Vice President for Strategy,[1] starting a close association with CEO Jean-Luc Lagardère
Jean-Luc Lagardère
Jean-Luc Lagardère was a major French businessman, CEO of the Lagardere Group, one of the largest French conglomerates....

 that lasted until Mr. Lagardère’s sudden death in March 2003. Between 1998 and 2000, together with Mr. Lagardère and Co-CEO, Philippe Camus, Mr. Gergorin played a major role in the series of national and transnational mergers that triggered the formation of EADS – the world’s second largest aerospace company.

During his time at EADS, Mr. Gergorin served as Executive Vice President for Strategy,[2] member of the Executive Committee, and as a member of the Shareholder’s Committee (Board of Directors) for its Airbus subsidiary. In this final capacity, Mr. Gergorin was particularly active in the expansion of EADS in the U.S. and U.K. markets.

Clearstream

In May 2006, Mr. Gergorin admitted that he had anonymously sent a list of various political figures and businesspersons who were allegedly involved in a large money laundering scheme to the French Investigative Magistrate, Renaud Van Ruymbeke
Renaud Van Ruymbeke
Renaud van Ruymbeke is a French investigative magistrate, well known for specializing in political and financial corruption cases, who investigated on the French-Taiwan frigates Affair, which has been related to the Clearstream scandal, and on the Urba affair.- Bibliography :*Renaud van Ruymbeke,...

, in 2004. Mr. Gergorin has stated publicly that he and Magistrate Van Ruymbeke met and agreed on this course of action for security concerns.[3] Magistrate Van Ruymbeke has confirmed this assertion.

Mr. Gergorin was subsequently put under investigation for transmitting these lists and the investigation proved that many of many of the names in Mr. Gergorin’s transmission had been fabricated. This discovery caused Mr. Gergorin to leave his position at EADS.

Throughout this matter, Mr. Gergorin has maintained that he sent the information to the magistrate in good faith because he was totally convinced of the authenticity of his information and the truthfulness of his source - a mathematician turned computer expert named Imad Lahoud. The investigation is still ongoing and has involved several notable French personalities such as former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin
Dominique de Villepin
Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin is a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007....

[4] and various former intelligence officials.

In 2007 Mr. Gergorin published a book named Rapacités (Greed) in which he publicly articulated his claim to have been a good faith whistleblower who has been framed through for his willingness to understand the causes of the unexpected death of Mr. Lagardère. Mr. Gergorin used the book to further explain his convictions about corruption and money laundering as well as to analyze what he feels are the geopolitical consequences of these two evils.

Awards & Activities

Mr. Gergorin has been the recipient of various honors and awards; most notably sharing the 1989 Aviation Week Laureate Award with Jean-Luc Lagardère and Philippe Camus. Mr. Gergorin was later inducted into the Aviation Week "Laureates Hall of Fame" at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.[5]

Mr. Gergorin spoke at the 1998 Bilderberg Meeting and was a guest at the 1997, 2002, and 2003 meetings. Mr. Gergorin has also been credited as the organizer of “high-level” discussions concerning France’s strained relationship with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 after the reelection of George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 to the Presidency of the United States
Presidency
The word presidency is often used to describe the administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation...

. The talks involved American luminaries such as Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...

 and Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981....

 as well as a “similarly illustrious” list of French officials. [6]

Current

Jean-Louis Gergorin lectures at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...

 and is a Trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British research institute in the area of international affairs. It describes itself as "the world’s leading authority on political-military conflict"...

(IISS).
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