Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, majority owner and chairwoman of global trading house Louis Dreyfus Commodities, has given birth to twin girls, the company said on Monday.
Confirming weekend press reports, the statement confirmed press reports at the weekend about the Russian-born billionaire, aged 53 and ranked 171 richest person in the world by Forbes. Fortune listed her as No. 21 on its list of Most Powerful Women in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
“Mother and babies are doing well,” Louis Dreyfus Commodities said in an emailed statement.
Louis Dreyfus Commodities had said in January that she planned to take a short break following the birth, which had been due in early April.
Louis-Dreyfus assumed control of the trading group when her husband Robert died in 2009. The change of management has led a shakeup of the 165 year old family firm, reshuffling top management and raising the possibility of opening the group’s capital to outside investors.
She has progressively raised her majority stake in recent years and said she could continue to buy shares from minority family shareholders.
Media reports say her life partner is Black Rock Vice President Philipp Hildebrand, the former head of the Swiss central bank.
Louis-Dreyfus, already the mother of three sons—including twins—from her marriage to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, is also the owner of Olympique de Marseille French Ligue 1 football club.
