July 6, 2023

2023-07-06 17:10:17

Posted on Jul 6, 2023 at 12:02 p.m.Updated on Jul 6, 2023 at 7:10 p.m.

Twenty years ago, Patrick Martin already became president of Medef. The leader was then just 43 years old, but he had quickly imposed himself following three years of climbing the ladder to take the lead… of the local federation of Ain.

Was he already thinking regarding the sequel? After twenty years of methodical ascent – which then led him to lead the Rhône-Alpes federation, which became Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, twice – Patrick Martin ended up reaching the summit he had been aiming for for years, being elected this Thursday president of Medef by obtaining 73.18% of the votes once morest Dominique Carlac’h, with 748 votes of the electors out of 1,023 expressed.

Not assiduous in the Century

Next to a CGT that bombards a young woman in her forties as number one, the choice of the employers’ organization for a 63-year-old man may seem a bit old-fashioned classicism. Patrick Martin’s career nevertheless marks a break with his predecessors, from “Baron” Ernest-Antoine Seillière, heir to the Wendel family, to Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, former leader of the Croissance Plus lobby.

“This is the first time that a leader of territorial Medef has been elected. Usually, it was necessarily a Parisian boss or a leader of a professional federation, that changes the situation”, deciphers a very good connoisseur of the house. We only have to remember 2018 and his first failed attempt to conquer power, when Patrick Martin then declared that he wanted to defend “the little ones and the low-ranking”.

Since then, following five years alongside Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux as number two in the employers’ organization, the discourse has evolved. But the Parisian networks have not yet completely dubbed him. Usually Alain Minc is inexhaustible in commenting on the life of the business community, but there, a blackout: “I don’t know him”.

Patrick Martin has nevertheless made efforts and frequents Le Siècle, the cenacle of the powerful. But in the opinion of another participant, he is not necessarily very diligent.

Exploding turnover

“He is not yet very identified by the circles of power, but his election should quickly change the situation”, assures an influential member of Medef. “Some were able to look down on him because he was number two in the organization only until then, but the function makes the man”, adds a figure from the employers’ environment.

Patrick Martin, however, has nothing of a provincial “little thing”. The man was well born, heir to an entrepreneurial bourgeoisie both through his mother – linked to the Guinard Pumps – and through his father. He was the manager of the family business Martin Belaysoud, founded in 1829 and which has long been centered on the distribution of steel for industry.

When he took the reins in 1987 with his brother – the latter was dismissed twenty years later following a family battle – the company achieved a turnover of around 50 million euros. A figure that will then explode to exceed one billion euros now, with an activity that has constantly expanded through company takeovers – 45 in thirty years.

352nd fortune of France

The success is such that Patrick Martin and his family are now firmly anchored in the annual ranking of the 500 greatest fortunes in France carried out by “Challenges” – in 352nd place in 2023, with a heritage estimated at 360 million euros.

“We have never had such a rich president of the Medef”, exclaims a member of the executive committee, who notes “that he owes nothing moreover to public order”. Enough to give it weight and freedom, especially in the face of the major professional federations. Especially since he has the reputation of having clear-cut opinions, without necessarily having his tongue in his pocket. “It can be bloody,” admits a businesswoman.

The issue of mandates

To establish his power, his detailed knowledge of the Medef should also be useful to him. In private, this rugby fan is saddened to see that fewer and fewer entrepreneurs are showing a taste for collective action. He has been surveying the mysteries of employers’ networks for more than twenty years, within the employers’ organization or chambers of commerce.

An environment where the distribution of mandates – the Medef has 15,000 at local or national level (prud’homal adviser, judge in commercial courts, representations at Action Logement, Unedic, etc.), often voluntary but who establishes the social status of the beneficiary – helps maintain loyalty. “It’s part of the game, everyone makes promises in this area, Patrick Martin no more than anyone else”, judges a good connoisseur of the house.

For five years, he was in the shadow of Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, right arm who was involved in the negotiation of technical files such as apprenticeship or state guaranteed loans during the Covid. From now on, he will have to learn to live with light, and make his big smoker’s voice – cigarillo-like – familiar in the media. Not easy when you go following Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux who excelled in the exercise.

His supporters are sorry that he always appears “strict and quite smooth, while he is a good living with humor” – networking is done at home first around a good table. “Communication remains an important facet of the job of president of Medef, and it is a question of not reliving the mistakes of the Gattaz era. The incarnation, that will be his main personal challenge, ”judges a major player in the employers’ organization.

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