Albert Frère one of the richest men of Belgium died

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On 4 February 1926, Albert Frère the son of a nail merchant was born at
Fontaine-l'Évêque near Charleroi in Belgium.

Since an early age, Frère had to help in the business of his father. When
Albert was 17 years old, his father died. He had to leave school and run
the family business by hemself.

Career

 At the age of 30, Frère started investing in Belgian steel factories, already
by the end of the 1970's he practically controlled the whole steel industry
in the region of Charleroi.

Later he foresaw the coming steel crisis of the late 1970s and he sold his
enterprises to the Belgian state after merging them with the competing steel
firm Cockerill to create Cockerill Sambre.

Frère built an investment empire around the Swiss holding company Pargesa,
which he founded together with the Canadian investor Paul Desmarais.

Pargesa took over the Belgian holding company Groupe Bruxelles Lambert in
1982. He also bought significant stakes in Belgian companies as:
Petrofina;
Royal Belge Insurance;
Compagnie Luxembourgoise de Télédiffusion (CLT);
Tractebel.

Later he sold the Banque Bruxelles Lambert to the ING Group;
Royal Belge to AXA,
Tractebel to Suez;
Petrofina to Total S.A ....

Albert Frère was regent of the National Bank of Belgium
National Bank of Belgium in Brussels

 He also was:
Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Charlerloi;
Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany;
Grand Officer in the Leopold Order;
Holder of the Grand Cross in the Legion of Honor in France.


Albert Frère and the Belgian royal Family

 It must be sure that Albert Frère had lot of power, but for a long time, Frère
was not the best friends with the royal family of Belgium.

King Baudouin of Belgium didn't want to grant Frère a personal title.  It was
only after King Baudouin's death that King Albert II of Belgium could grant
Frère the title of Baron. This took place in 1994.

In 2000, Albert Frère founded the Fondation Charles-Albert Frère. This was
a foundation in memory of his youngest son, who passed away by a car
accident. His foundation was linked to the King  Baudouin foundation.

On 13 July 2017 the title of Baron could be transferred to his offspring.

On 3 December 2018, it was breaking news in Belgium that Albert Frère
died.

Picture & more information @ this link (text in Dutch).

Personal Life

 Albert Frère married 2 times. He had 3 children.
Location: België

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