Emmanuel Besnier
French businessman; chairman and controlling shareholder of the dairy group Lactalis
| Emmanuel Besnier
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 September 1970 (Forbes) Laval, France (Forbes) |
| Nationality | French |
| Residence | Laval, France (Forbes) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Chairman and controlling shareholder of Lactalis |
Emmanuel Besnier (born 1970) is a French businessman, the chairman and controlling shareholder of the family-owned dairy group Lactalis, based in Laval.[1][2] Lactalis describes itself as the world's largest dairy group. It reported revenue of €31.2 billion and net income of €528 million for 2025.[2][3] Forbes says his younger siblings, Jean-Michel and Marie, own the rest of the company.[1] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Emmanuel Besnier 106th in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$24.35 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Cheese.[1][4] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Emmanuel Besnier 88th, at US$28.3 billion.[5] Under his leadership Lactalis has faced a criminal investigation over the contamination of infant formula with salmonella in 2017. In 2024 it paid €475 million to settle a dispute with the French tax authorities.[6][7]
Early life
Forbes gives his date of birth as 18 September 1970 and his birthplace as Laval.[1] Lactalis was founded in Laval in 1933 and was called Entreprise Besnier until 1999.[2][7] Forbes profile texts disagree on who founded it: the current text names his grandfather, while the 2023 text named his father.[1] The sources checked for this profile gave no details of his education.
Lactalis
Forbes describes Besnier as the controlling shareholder of Lactalis, owner of brands including Président, Siggi's and Stonyfield.[1] In its April 2026 annual results, in which he is quoted as chairman, Lactalis reported 2025 revenue of €31.2 billion, up 2.9%, and net income of €528 million. Its revenue in the Americas passed €10 billion for the first time after it took over General Mills' US yogurt business. In early April 2026 it completed the purchase of the consumer business of the New Zealand cooperative Fonterra, with revenue of NZ$5.6 billion.[2] The group gives its workforce as 85,500 on its French website and as 90,000 in the April 2026 release.[3][2] In 2018 a Senate committee chair introduced him as someone who speaks little in public.[8] Forbes says that, because of his dislike of the press, he has been called "the invisible billionaire".[1]
Infant formula contamination
In late 2017, 53 infants in France were found to have salmonellosis after consuming infant milk, mostly of the Milumel and Picot brands, made at Lactalis's factory at Craon in Mayenne. Franceinfo described the recall as chaotic. In mid-January 2018 the group withdrew all infant milk produced at the plant, where production was halted for more than six months.[6] On 7 June 2018 Besnier, then chairman and chief executive, gave evidence under oath to a National Assembly committee of inquiry into the affair.[9] On 20 June 2018 he appeared before the Senate economic affairs committee as chairman of the supervisory board.[8]
On 16 February 2023 Lactalis and its subsidiary Celia Laiterie were placed under formal investigation (mis en examen) for aggravated deception and unintentional injury. Each was put under judicial supervision with bail of €300,000. Several hundred complaints had been filed.[6]
Tax dispute
In December 2024 Lactalis said it would pay €475 million to the French tax authorities to close a dispute over international financing operations. The operations involved three subsidiaries set up in 2006 in Belgium and Luxembourg, and the tax authorities considered that they should have been taxed in France. The group said the operations had ended several years earlier and that it had cooperated fully. A preliminary investigation by the national financial prosecutor's office (PNF) into suspected under-declaration of taxable profit was continuing.[7] According to BFM Business, citing a source close to the case, the group's headquarters in Laval, its Paris offices and Besnier's Paris residence were searched in early 2024.[7]
On 17 June 2025 Besnier and other Lactalis executives appeared before a Senate committee of inquiry into public aid to companies. Public Sénat reported that a criminal investigation for aggravated tax fraud and laundering of its proceeds was under way. Besnier told the communist senator Fabien Gay that his description of the arrangements was "totally inaccurate". Lactalis's finance director said the group had received €18.7 million in public aid in 2023.[10]
Wealth
Forbes gives cheese as his source of wealth and describes his fortune as inherited and growing.[1] Lactalis's parent company is named in reporting as BSA.[7]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 14 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2013. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.[5][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 299 | 4.3 |
| 2014 | 167 | 7.9 |
| 2015 | 191 | 7.1 |
| 2016 | 151 | 7.6 |
| 2017 | 116 | 11.3 |
| 2018 | 97 | 14.7 |
| 2019 | 88 | 14.3 |
| 2020 | 94 | 12.7 |
| 2021 | 94 | 19.1 |
| 2022 | 63 | 23.5 |
| 2023 | 71 | 22.0 |
| 2024 | 76 | 25.5 |
| 2025 | 80 | 24.5 |
| 2026 | 88 | 28.3 |
Philanthropy
No philanthropic foundation or major donation in Emmanuel Besnier's name was found in the sources checked.
Political activity
Besnier has given evidence to committees of both houses of the French parliament: in 2018 on the salmonella affair and in 2025 on public aid to companies.[9][8][10] No political donations or lobbying registrations in his personal name were found in the sources checked.
Controversies and legal issues
See Infant formula contamination and Tax dispute.[6][7]
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Russia
Company level: when Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2022, Lactalis said its Russian sites were continuing to operate and sell products, while some of its Ukrainian sites were paused for safety reasons.[11] In April 2024 Challenges reported that Lactalis had been in Russia since 2003, with four production sites, and had been approached by Russian buyers including Sergey Bachin of Agranta Group.[12]
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
Lactalis has been the subject of a French criminal investigation into the 2017 salmonella contamination and of a national financial prosecutor's investigation into its tax arrangements. It paid €475 million to the French tax authorities in 2024.[6][7] The group reported receiving €18.7 million in French public aid in 2023.[10]
Other international links
Company level: Lactalis operates in about 50 countries. In 2026 it bought the consumer business of the New Zealand cooperative Fonterra, which it said would open growth opportunities in Oceania, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East.[2] The tax dispute concerned financing subsidiaries in Belgium and Luxembourg.[7]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Emmanuel Besnier (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/emmanuel-besnier/) Forbes, live record, read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Lactalis, 2025 Annual Results – Lactalis achieves 3% global growth in 2025, strengthens its position in the Americas and sets its sights on Oceania and Asia (press release) Lactalis, 16 April 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lactalis, Lactalis, notre raison d'agir : nourrir l'avenir (Lactalis, our purpose: nourishing the future) Lactalis (official website), undated; read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 franceinfo with AFP, Lait infantile contaminé : le groupe Lactalis est mis en examen pour tromperie aggravée et blessures involontaires (Contaminated infant milk: Lactalis placed under formal investigation for aggravated deception and unintentional injury) franceinfo, 16 February 2023, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 P.L. with AFP, Lactalis règle 475 millions d'euros au fisc français pour "clore un différend" (Lactalis pays €475 million to the French tax authorities to "close a dispute") BFM Business, 19 December 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Sénat, Commission des affaires économiques, Audition de M. Emmanuel Besnier, président du conseil de surveillance du groupe Lactalis (Hearing of Emmanuel Besnier, chairman of the supervisory board of the Lactalis group) Sénat (compte rendu), 20 June 2018, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Assemblée nationale, Commission d’enquête chargée de tirer les enseignements de l’affaire Lactalis – Audition de M. Emmanuel Besnier, président-directeur général de Lactalis (compte rendu n° 25) (Committee of inquiry into the Lactalis affair – hearing of Emmanuel Besnier, chairman and chief executive of Lactalis (record no. 25)) Assemblée nationale, 7 June 2018, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Emile Boissel-Dombreval, « Tout le monde a tort, sauf vous ! » : vifs échanges entre le PDG de Lactalis et le rapporteur lors de son audition au Sénat ("Everyone is wrong except you!": heated exchanges between the Lactalis CEO and the rapporteur at his Senate hearing) Public Sénat, 17 June 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Le Journal des Entreprises, Lactalis continue de produire en Russie, certains sites en pause en Ukraine (Lactalis keeps producing in Russia; some sites paused in Ukraine) Le Journal des Entreprises, 4 March 2022, accessed 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Antoine Izambard, Danone, Lactalis, Savencia… que reste-t-il des géants français du lait en Russie ? (Danone, Lactalis, Savencia… what is left of the French dairy giants in Russia?) Challenges, 6 April 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.