Photo: Sebleouf / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Jean-Michel Aulas strikes me as a rare breed: a tech entrepreneur who genuinely understood football as a business long before it became fashionable. Founding Cegid was impressive enough, but transforming Lyon into a French powerhouse from 1987 onward showed a vision that blended passion with hard commercial discipline. What I respect most is that he built rather than merely bought success, and the cascade of honours, from Knight to Commander of the National Order of Merit, reflects how seriously France took his contribution. Selling to John Textor closed a long chapter, but I'll remember Aulas as a club-builder, not just an owner.
Overview
Jean-Michel Antoine Aulas (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃miʃɛl olas]; born 22 March 1949) is a French businessman and politician. He is the founder of Cegid (Compagnie Européenne de Gestion par l'Informatique Décentralisée), and from 1987 to 2023, he served as the president of French football club Lyon, which he had owned from 1987 to 2022 before selling a majority stake to John Textor.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Jean-Michel Aulas
- Name (Japanese)
- ジャン・ミシェル・オラス
- Reading
- じゃん・みしぇる・おらす
- Born
- March 22, 1949 (age 77)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aries / Ox
- Origin
- L'Arbresle, Rhône, France
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- sports executive / entrepreneur / businessperson / association football executive
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- University of Lyon
Awards & achievements
- 1986 Knight of the National Order of Merit
- 2006 Knight of the Legion of Honour
- 2012 Officer of the National Order of Merit
- 2016 Officer of the Legion of Honour
- 2022 Commander of the National Order of Merit
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Sports executive — see all → · Entrepreneur — see all → · More people from France →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.