Is Tapie the French Trump?

During the 2016 Republican Primary, Trump made a splashy entry on the US political scene. At first, we found his little show quite entertaining, but soon our amusement turned into nightmare, as he got into the White House. 

Back in those days, I had told my wife: “Trump is the American version of France’s Bernard Tapie!” I think I was right, and between Trump, Tapie and Berlusconi, the three men shares a lot in terms of being swindlers, politicians, sport team owners and entertainers. 

Unlike Trump, Tapie wasn’t born into money and this is probably why he could end up becoming French president. Interestingly, Tapie built his fortune and reputation by preying on failing companies during the 1980s. 

Typically, in those days he would buy a company for one token franc (about 15 cents), purchase the debt, generally owned by a state-controlled bank for pennies on the dollar, then recast the original debt amount as receivable owned to him, rig the accounting and find a sucker to buy the company later for a huge amount of money. 

It worked like that: 

• La Vie Claire (organic food stores) bought in 1980 for 15 cents and resold for (only) $1.5 million to Distriborg in 1995.
• Terraillon (bathroom scales) bought in 1981 for 15 cents and sold for $19 million to Measurement Specialties in 1986. 
• Look (ski bindings) bought in 1983 for 15 cents and sold $40 million to Ebel watches in 1988.  
• Testut (scales) bought in 1983 for 15 cents and sold by the French government for an undisclosed amount to Mettler-Toledo in 1999. 
• Wonder (household batteries) bought in 1984 for 15 cents and sold for $72 million to Ralston in 1988. 
• Donnay (tennis rackets) bought in 1988 for 15 cents and sold $15 million to a Belgian government agency in 1991, etc. 

All along, Tapie was in cahoots with then French president, François Mitterand who used taxpayers money to forgive the discounted bank debt. 

This of course was just the beginning of Tapie’s checkered career that involved being a TV personality, a sport team owner, the heister of Adidas, a politician, a jail prisoner and even a stint as a comedian. 

To this day, Tapie’s populist flair still enjoys a fair amount of favorable opinions in France in spite of his highly questionable path to fame. 

As you can see, Trump has some way to go before he catches up with my (infamous) countryman!