3. Jean Todt

Jean Todt was born on 25 February 1946 in Pierrefort, Cantal (France).

He has one son, Nicolas, aged 41, and shares his life with actress, film producer and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Michelle Yeoh. Jean Todt was born on 25 February 1946 in Pierrefort, Cantal (France).

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In 1966, he began his career and participated in the World Rally Championship until 1981. That same year, alongside Guy Fréquelin, he won the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers with a Talbot Lotus.

Between 1966 and 1981, Jean Todt co-drove alongside 18 of the most successful drivers of the period for 12 major manufacturers, winning many international rallies in the process.

He was then appointed Peugeot’s Director of Racing and founded Peugeot Talbot Sport (PTS), which claimed the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ FIA World Rally Championship titles in 1985 and 1986 before going on to take first place in the general classification in five editions of the Paris-Dakar Rally between 1987 and 1991.

In 1990, Jean Todt became Director of Sporting Activities of the PSA Peugeot Citroën Group, overseeing Peugeot’s participation in the World SportsCar Championship, which Peugeot won in 1992. It also took two consecutive victories at the 1992 and 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans.

On 1 July 1993, Jean Todt left Peugeot and became Director of Ferrari’s Racing Division. Under his leadership, from 1993 to 2008, Scuderia Ferrari won 14 FIA Formula One World titles (eight Constructors’ and six Drivers’ titles, five thanks to Michael Schumacher and one with Kimi Räikkönen) and 106 Grand Prix victories.

In 2001, he took on responsibility for all motorsport activities of the Ferrari-Maserati Group and then he was appointed General Manager of Ferrari in 2004. This same year, Jean Todt was appointed CEO of Ferrari. In 2008, he took up a new post as a Special Advisor to the President of Ferrari. He left Ferrari in April 2009.

Jean Todt was elected President of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) on 23 October 2009, re-elected on 6 December 2013, and again on 8 December 2017.

On April 29 2015, Jean Todt was appointed by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as his Special Envoy for Road Safety and was confirmed in April 2017 by the new UN Secretary-General António Guterres.