CEO of French Oil Giant Total Dies in Moscow Plane Crash -- 2nd Update

By David Gauthier-Villars 

PARIS--French oil company Total SA said Chairman and Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie died Monday in a plane crash at a Russian airport.

The French executive, who enjoyed close relations with numerous world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, was 63 years old.

Mr. de Margerie and the three crew members on board were killed when their Falcon 50 business jet gathered speed to take off at Moscow's Vnukovo airport amid low visibility, and ran into a snow-removal truck maneuvering on the runway, according to airport authorities.

A Total spokeswoman said Mr. de Margerie was in Moscow to attend a gathering of the Russian government's foreign investment advisory council.

Mr. de Margerie's sudden death opens a period of uncertainty at Total, one of France's largest companies, which had no obvious succession plan in place. In May, Total shareholders had approved a resolution increasing the age cap for its CEO to 67 from 65, potentially allowing Mr. de Margerie to remain at the oil company through 2018.

A bon vivant who confessed to enjoying reality shows, the blue-blooded Mr. de Margerie devoted his life to the oil industry, following a simple motto: "Go where the oil is."

Born into a family that owns part of the Taittinger champagne house, his relatives joked about how he could have become "king of brut," but had preferred to become "king of crude."

Mr. de Margerie joined Total's finance department in 1974 after studying business. He worked for the oil-trading arm from 1990 to 1995. In January 2002, he became head of the group's core exploration and production division, a position often regarded as a necessary step to the CEO post.

Known as "Big Mustache" for his bushy handlebar, Mr. de Margerie relentlessly hopscotched the globe to promote his oil firm.

At a meeting in Moscow with Mr. Putin in 2009, the executive described the talks that led to a partnership with a tough Russian counterpart.

"He's a terrifying man to negotiate with," Mr. de Margerie said of the Russian partner, according to minutes of the meeting.

"You've just complimented him," Mr. Putin replied.

Russian investigators said Tuesday that the plane carrying Mr. de Margerie hit a snow-removal vehicle whose driver was drunk. Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement that the plane was taking off at around 23:57 local time, when it grazed the vehicle, caught fire and crashed into the runway.

The investigation is focusing on whether a mistake was made by the traffic controller or the snow-removal truck driver, the committee said. Investigators are also checking to see if bad weather or pilot error was to blame, it said.

The committee said it had established that the truck driver was under the influence of alcoholic.

Paying tribute to Mr. de Margerie, France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the country had lost a "great industrial captain."

"France is losing a company chief out of the ordinary who knew how to transform Total into a global giant," Mr. Valls said, expressing his "profound sadness" over the death and the loss of "a friend."

Gregory L. White

and James Marson in Moscow and Ruth Bender in Paris contributed to this article.

Write to David Gauthier-Villars at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires