Bernard Tapie (born 26 January 1943 in Paris) is a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Ministre de la Ville (Minister of City Affairs) in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy, a businessman specializing in recovery for bankrupted companies, among which Adidas is the most famous (he owned Adidas from 1990 to 1993); and owner of sports teams (his cycling team won the Tour de France twice and his football club the French championship 5 times in a row, and the Champions League in 1993).
On 30 September 2011 it was disclosed Tapie had agreed to buy Full Tilt Poker and its assets despite its legal troubles in the United States and the revocation of its gambling license. That deal fell through in April 2012.
La Vie Claire, one of Tapie's former businesses, is a chain of health product stores. It sponsored one of the strongest cycling teams of all time called La Vie Claire. It was founded after the 1983 season when multiple Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault broke from the Renault-Elf team that featured another Tour winner in Laurent Fignon after a falling-out with team manager, Cyrille Guimard. Following Hinault to the new team was Greg LeMond, who would go on to win three Tours himself. Both Hinault and LeMond would win Tours with the La Vie Claire team.
From 1986 to 1994, he was president of the Olympique de Marseille football club, which became Champion of France and won the Champions League. In May 1992, he was forced to resign of his function as Minister of City, by the Prime minister Pierre Bérégovoy, who thus established the misnamed "Balladur jurisprudence," according to which an indicted member of the government should resign.
Read more about Bernard Tapie: Legal Difficulties, Acquisitions, Media, Career
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“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. And also the only real tragedy in life is being used by personally minded men for purposes which you recognize to be base.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)