Who is JC Decaux? A name you've surely read without realizing it.

Several backlit advertising panels hang from the wall of the Barceloneta metro station platform. Most are vertical and advertise the latest series to arrive on the platforms. There's also a larger, horizontal one, currently displaying a campaign for a children's NGO. Every now and then, a worker comes by to change the posters, but one thing always remains: the name JCDecaux. The more observant will have noticed it printed in small, gray letters along the top of the panels.

This is a French multinational that has led the global market for advertising displays on public transport and streets for decades. In 2024 alone, it generated €3.935 billion in revenue, a 10.2% increase over the previous year. But how was this empire, which produces so many advertising displays worldwide, built? Who is behind that name?

The king of marquees

The company's founder was born on September 15, 1937, in Beauvais, in northern France. His name was Jean-Claude Jacques Decaux, and he came from a family of shoemakers. During the post-war period, he grew up in austere circumstances and was raised by his grandmother. Despite having no university degree and being self-taught, by the age of fifteen he already demonstrated an uncommon business acumen. One summer, taking advantage of his father's absence, he plastered the town with posters advertising the family shop. In just a few days, he sold out of stock. That experience sparked an idea.

At eighteen, in 1955, he became independent and founded his own company, specializing in placing advertisements on French highways. It was a growing business, but one that also clashed with strict French regulations: the state soon began to limit this type of advertising. To circumvent this, Decaux understood that he had to find another space. And he set his sights on the urban environment.

In 1964, in Lyon, he had the idea that made him a millionaire. Bus stops already existed, but they were often precarious, and city councils didn't want to assume the cost of installation and maintenance. Decaux saw an opportunity: integrate advertising space and offer the furniture free of charge in exchange for commercially exploiting its sides. With this model, the city didn't invest public money; the company installed and maintained the structure, and brands paid JCDecaux for the space.

The expansion of the model

The first system was installed in Lyon. Then came cities like Grenoble, Angers, and Poitiers. By the early 1970s, the system had spread throughout France. Decaux had found a formula that convinced everyone. Over the following decades, the company expanded its product range. In 1974, it launched illuminated panels. In 1981, the first electronic municipal information panels were introduced.

During those years, Decaux took another decisive step: transforming the business into a multinational corporation. It expanded beyond France and into Europe, Asia, and the Americas. By the end of the 20th century, JCDecaux was already competing for contracts in airports, subway systems, and shopping centers. Furthermore, in 1999, it acquired Avenir, the company that had previously led advertising in public transportation, in a deal that solidified its dominance in the sector.

In 2000, with the company fully internationalized, Jean-Claude Jacques Decaux handed over the CEO position to his sons, Jean-François and Jean-Charles, and assumed the chairmanship of the supervisory board. The following year, the group went public. One of the most unusual moves made by his successors was to invest in and promote public bike-sharing services. In 2005, they launched the service in Lyon and, in 2007, in Paris. The principle was the same as with the billboards: the advertising displayed on the stations and bikes could help cover the cost of installing and maintaining the service.

When Jean-Claude Decaux died on May 27, 2016, his company dominated the global market for street furniture. Two years earlier, the family fortune exceeded €4.6 billion, placing them among the wealthiest families in France.