Besnier and her two siblings own all of Lactalis, the world's largest maker of cheese. The Laval, France-based company has 250 production sites in 50 countries, about 80,000 employees and revenue of 18.5 billion euros ($21.2 billion) in 2018. The billionaire's grandfather founded the closely held business in 1933.
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The majority of Besnier's fortune is derived from her stake in BSA, the holding company that controls the closely held dairy-maker founded by her grandfather in 1933. The Besnier family owns all of Paris-based BSA, according to a November 2016 regulatory filing from the company’s acquisition of Romanian dairy company Albalact SA.
Besnier and her two siblings each control about 25% of BSA through their stakes across three holding companies. The remaining value of the Besnier family’s shareholding in BSA is attributed to Marie's brother, Emmanuel, to reflect his status as Groupe Lactalis’s chief executive officer.
Lactalis is the world's largest maker of cheese and has 250 production sites in 50 countries and about 80,000 staff, according to its website. The Laval, France-based company had annual revenue of 18.5 billion euros ($21.2 billion) in 2018, according to a March 2019 email from spokeswoman Caroline Hopu.
Besnier didn't respond to e-mailed requests for comment sent to Lactalis.
Marie Besnier was born in Le Mans, France, the daughter of Michel Besnier, the head of closely held dairy producer Besnier on July 30, 1980.
Her grandfather, Andre, set up the family’s dairy business in 1933 through creating 17 camembert cheeses. Andre called these first products ‘Le Petit Lavallois’ in reference to the company’s location in Laval, western France, and grew Besnier to 25 employees by the end of the 1940s.
Marie's father, Michel, took the company over from Andre after his death in 1955. He led Besnier into other European markets and the U.S., and changed the company’s name to ‘Lactalis’ in 1999 to make its title easier to pronounce worldwide. Marie's older brother, Emmanuel, became the milk-maker’s chief executive officer following their father’s sudden death the following year. Since then, Emmanuel has overseen a series of acquisitions, including a 2006 takeover of Italy's leading cheesemaker, Galbani, and the purchase of Rachel's, a U.K. manufacturer of organic yogurts.
Lactalis disclosed its 2010 financial statements and ownership structure as part of a 2011 offering document the company released when it bought Parmalat, an Italian dairy and fruit juice producer. The same year, Emmanuel Besnier blocked the sale of Lactalis products to Leclerc, a French supermarket chain with more than 500 stores in the country, over its pricing policy. The dispute was resolved in January 2012. Six years later, Lactalis agreed to withdraw 12 million boxes of baby milk due to an outbreak of salmonella at one its factories.