He served as a corporate director of shipping companies in the Antilles, West Africa and French Indochina.

[1][2] His father founded La Maison Charles-Roux, a soap factory, in 1828.

[2][3] He was also on the board of the Suez Canal Company, eventually serving as its vice president in 1897.

[2][3] Charles-Roux was a supporter of the French colonial empire and free market economics, partly due to the influence of Léon Say.

[2] During his tenure, he supported pro-French tariffs and subsidies to French shipping companies.