Rescue the Customer, Own the Industry

“Michelin puts around sixty million francs on the table. With the shares he receives from André Citroën and the shares of many small shareholders he buys back, he soon holds fifty-three percent of the capital. Long-term arrangements are made with other major creditors.”

“At Quai de Javel, the new owner makes sharp cuts. Six thousand layoffs—five thousand workers and one thousand white-collar workers—are decided by Pierre Michelin. No more family scions (those called “hickeys”), no more secretaries overly concerned with their elegance, no more workers whimsical about their schedules, no more expenses that aren’t absolutely necessary, no more adventurous epics, no more fanfare. André Citroën’s closest collaborators are thanked and let go. The parent company in Clermont-Ferrand continues to send—often in “submarines”—some of its trusted men to reorganize the business from top to bottom, take back control of the staff, and identify overly disruptive unionists.”