Christophe de Margerie, the CEO of French Oil Company Total dies in Moscow plane crash

 

Christophe de Margerie, the chief executive of French oil company Total, has died in an air crash in Moscow.

Airport spokeswoman Elena Krylova said: "Tonight, a plane crashed when it collided with a snow-clearing machine. Three crew members and a passenger died."
"I can confirm that the passenger was Total's head de Margerie," she said.
Mr de Margerie, 63, had been chief executive of Europe's third largest oil company since 2007.
The collision happened as Mr de Margerie's private jet was trying to take off at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.
Russia's emergencies ministry said in a statement the accident had involved a Falcon-50 plane shortly before midnight local time (20:00 GMT) on Monday Oct 20,2014
The jet had been due to fly to Paris. The three crew members were all French.
Reports say the visibility at airport was 350m (1,150ft).
An investigation is now under way

Total is one of the world's leading oil and gas company, operating in more than 50 countries.

 
Christophe de Margerie was highly regarded within the oil industry. At the company, where he had spent his entire career, he was nicknamed "Big Moustache".
He joined Total Group after graduating from the Ecole Superieure de Commerce in Paris in 1974.