Gérard Paul Louis Marie-Joseph Mulliez (born 13 May 1931) is a French entrepreneur and the founder of the Auchan chain of department stores.
His father, Gérard Mulliez, was the owner of Phildar, a knitting yarn brand founded by his grandfather, Louis Mulliez-Lestienne.
[3] His holding Association Familiale Mulliez (AFM) controls Auchan[4] as well as a diverse mix of other retail chains such as Leroy Merlin, Decathlon, [5] Saint Maclou, Kiloutou, Kiabi, Flunch, etc.
[1] He is in favour of taxing annual incomes upwards of 500,000 Euros, but not dividends on investments, arguing that this would scare investors away.
[1] On 21 February 2015, he paid a personal visit to the youth wing of the French Communist Party in Lille to protest about a poster accusing him of profiting from the financial crisis, as he got richer while his employees saw their spending power diminish.
[11][16] He argued that he employed a lot of people, adding that by the time he was their age, he had already opened his first store.