Antoine Bernheim, a top financier who helped shape French capitalism from the 1960s to the 1990s and who twice was chairman of Italian insurance giant Generali, has died aged 87, an associate said Tuesday. Bernheim joined the board of Generali in 1973 and chaired the firm from 1995 to 1999 and from 2002 until 2010.
From 1967 to 2000 he was senior partner at Lazard investment bank and helped shape the fortunes of some of France's top business leaders, including Bernard Arnault, Francois Pinault and Vincent Bollore. His death was confirmed by Xavier Niel, a co-owner of the French newspaper Le Monde, which announced his death on its website and on the supervisory board of which Bernheim was a member.