He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of French oil corporation Total S.A.[1] Christophe de Margerie was born in Mareuil-sur-Lay-Dissais, France, on 6 August 1951.

De Margerie, charismatic and dubbed "Big Mustache", was an astute strategist who recognized that the sanctions had placed the Total Group at a distinct advantage to the restrained international competitors.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin paid tribute to de Margerie as a “true friend of our country” via telegram to the French President, Mr Hollande; further stating, de Margerie had “pioneered many of the major joint projects and laid the foundation for many years of fruitful co-operation between France and Russia in the energy sector”.

French prosecutors desired to charge de Margerie for corrupting foreign public officials and misuse of company funds.

[7] Later that year, citing lack of evidence, de Margerie was acquitted by a Paris court in charges relating to an Iraq oil-for-food scandal, in which Total was accused of using bribery and other illicit means to access Iraqi oil between 1996 and 2003.

[8] Margerie died in an aircraft crash in Moscow on 20 October 2014, along with the three-member crew (Yann Pican, Maxime Rassiat and Ruslana Vervelle).