Max Théret (6 January 1913 – 25 February 2009) was the co-founder of Fnac, originally Fédération nationale d’achats des cadres, or National Purchasing Federation for Middle Managers, alongside André Essel.
Before the rise of the extreme right, Max Théret often engaged with street battles against French Stalinists during the years following the death of Vladimir Lenin and the intense power struggle between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky.
In 1951, while working for the PTT telephone company, he founded Economie Nouvelle, a buying group that arranged discounts for members on products sold through participating merchants.
In 1953, he met André Essel, the other co-founder of Fnac, and the two conceived the idea of forming a new buyers club through a magazine called Contact.
Founded a year later in 1954, Fnac was exclusive to its members only, offering sharp discounts on its products, based on the founders' socialist principles.