The Passing of Michel Jalabert, Board Member and Key Figure in the Capgemini Group’s History

Born on January 20, 1933, Michel Jalabert received degrees from the Ecole Supérieure d’Electricité school of electrical engineering and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques institute of political science in Paris. He began his career in 1958 at Bull, where he was named manager of the company’s Mexican subsidiary and then was promoted to the position of Director of Services. In this capacity, he supervised Serge Kampf, who was the Regional Director of Dauphiné-Savoies in Grenoble at the time. Michel Jalabert left Bull in 1971 to become General Manager of Gemini Computer Systems (which would later become a subsidiary of the Cap Gemini Group), then European Manager of General Automation in 1974.  Serge Kampf convinced Michel Jalabert to return to Cap Gemini, and on 5 January 1976, he became the Group Secretary General. Michel Jalabert, Serge Kampf and Daniel Setbon, the Chief Financial Officer, were a formidable trio of negotiators, playing a key role in all significant Group transactions, such as the acquisitions of European companies SESA in 1987, HOSKYNS in 1990 and VOLMAC and PROGRAMATOR in 1992, as well as acquisitions of American companies DASD in 1981 and CGA in 1986. Michel Jalabert was especially involved in creating the Cap Gemini Group’s Consulting arm by orchestrating the acquisitions of several, well-respected companies in the sector (United Research, Mac Group, Gamma International, and especially, the Bossard Group).