His management of the French Navy was criticised, but recent historiography has reevaluated his contributions.

He directed a significant programme of explorations and encouraged the settlement and development of Louisiana.

[7] Five children were born to this marriage: He remarried in July 1713 with Hélène de L'Aubespine (1690–1770), with whom he had two daughters.

In 1715, with the death of Louis XIV and the assumption of power by the Regent, Phélypeaux was compelled to resign his ministries in favour of his son Jean-Frédéric.

Effective authority, and later the guardianship of his children, passed to his kinsman Louis Phélypeaux, marquis de La Vrillière.