Ubisoft co-founder Claude Guillemot dies at 69 in La Baule plane crash

Claude Guillemot, one of the five brothers who founded Ubisoft, has died in a plane crash in western France.

He was 69.

The Cessna 421 he was flying came down in a field near La Baule aerodrome on the afternoon of Friday, June 19, killing both people on board.Guillemot owned the twin-engine propeller plane and was a member of the La Baule flying club.

The aircraft had set off from Rennes and was on its landing approach when, according to witnesses cited by the mayor of La Baule, Franck Louvrier, it made a sudden turn and crashed.

The second victim was a flight instructor from Rennes who has not been named.

The plane burst into flames on impact, setting fire to surrounding vegetation, and around sixty firefighters were called in to fight the blaze.Ubisoft confirmed the death in a brief statement.

The company said it had learned "with deep sadness of the death of Claude Guillemot, co-founder of the Group and President of Guillemot Corporation, in an accident", adding that no further comment would be made.

Guillemot's family was notified on Friday evening, hours after the crash.

He had been expected at a gathering of more than 100 aircraft in the region this weekend.The quiet brother who built the hardware empire behind UbisoftWhile brother Yves became Ubisoft's public face as CEO, Claude worked behind the scenes.

He held a master's in economic science and a certificate in industrial computing, and ran Guillemot Corporation, the family's hardware arm known for the Thrustmaster and Hercules brands.

He stepped back from day-to-day duties in July 2025, handing the CEO role to his son Valentin, but stayed on as chairman.The Guillemot brothers founded Ubisoft in 1986 in Brittany, growing it from a mail-order software business into the maker of Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rayman.

At his death, Claude remained on Ubisoft's board as executive vice-president of operations.Get the latest technology news and updates.

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