• Ad Age, Tuesday, July 7, 2009 10:33 AM

Robert Louis-Dreyfus, who brought Saatchi & Saatchi back from the brink of financial ruin during his run as London-based CEO of the holding company from 1990 to 1993, died of leukemia on July 4, Laurel Wentz reports.

Louis-Dreyfus, 63, was the charismatic scion of a wealthy French family and a first cousin of actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus. He built U.S. pharmaceutical market research company IMS International, selling it to Dun & Bradstreet in 1988 for $1.7 billion. Maurice Saatchi recruited him to take the new CEO post at Saatchi & Saatchi Co. holding company, where he negotiated with creditors to defuse a debt bomb that many feared would bankrupt the company, and restructured management and holdings to cut costs.

Louis-Dreyfus later joined Adidas as CEO and major shareholder, and turned the company around by revamping its management, marketing and product line before leaving in 2001. At his death, among other things he was the owner of the French soccer team Marseille and chairman of the board and major shareholder in Infront Sports & Media, a sports-rights business based in Zug, Switzerland.

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