Rodolphe Saadé and Greg Hayes became prominent through businesses whose operations reach across the world. Saadé leads CMA CGM, the shipping and logistics group established by his father. Hayes rose through American industry to lead United Technologies and later the aerospace and defense company now called RTX.
Their careers offer two different accounts of corporate leadership. Saadé combined succession within a family business with expansion into logistics, airfreight and media. Hayes worked through finance and management before overseeing acquisitions, divestitures and a merger that changed the identity of a major industrial company.
Understanding either executive requires more than a job title or wealth estimate. Their significance lies in the organizations they helped shape, the decisions they made and the industries those decisions affected. This biography concentrates on documented professional history and leaves unconfirmed personal details unstated.
Biographical Information
| Detail | Rodolphe Saadé and Greg Hayes |
|---|---|
| Full names | Rodolphe Saadé; Gregory J. Hayes |
| Date of birth | Saadé: 1970; the cited authoritative sources do not establish a complete birth date. Hayes: exact date not confirmed here. |
| Age | Saadé: 56 as of October 30, 2026, according to Forbes. Hayes: exact age not confirmed here. |
| Birthplace | Saadé: Lebanon. Hayes: not confirmed in the authoritative sources used. |
| Nationality | Saadé: French-Lebanese. Hayes: American. |
| Profession | Both are business executives; Saadé is also a media investor. |
| Education | Saadé: business and marketing degree, Concordia University. Hayes: bachelor’s degree in economics, Purdue University, 1982. |
| Career period | Saadé joined CMA CGM in 1994 after an earlier entrepreneurial venture. Hayes held finance roles at Sundstrand before joining UTC through the 1999 merger. |
| Known for | Saadé: leading and diversifying CMA CGM. Hayes: leading United Technologies and the creation of Raytheon Technologies. |
| Leadership milestones | Saadé became CMA CGM CEO in February 2017 and chairman that November. Hayes became UTC CEO in 2014 and RTX CEO in 2020. |
The table draws on CMA CGM’s biography, UTC’s SEC filing and Forbes. Unconfirmed personal details are identified rather than inferred.
Rodolphe Saadé: Background and Early Career
Education and an Independent Business Venture
Saadé was born in Lebanon in 1970. His father, Jacques Saadé, founded the shipping business in Marseille in 1978. The family’s connection to the company is central to his biography, but his professional experience did not begin with its top position.
He studied at Concordia University in Montreal, graduating in business and marketing. Before joining the family group, he established a company selling water dispensers. That venture gave him direct experience of running a business before entering the much larger organization associated with his father.
In 1994, he joined CMA CGM. His early assignments included work in the United States and Hong Kong, followed by responsibilities in Marseille. These postings placed his career across several important commercial regions rather than within a single headquarters role.
Learning the Shipping Business
Between 1997 and 2000, Saadé managed different shipping lines. He subsequently took responsibility for transatlantic and transpacific services. Such positions involved the commercial networks through which container shipping connects manufacturers, ports and customers.
His responsibilities also included crisis negotiations. Marine Log reported that, when a cruise yacht belonging to a CMA CGM subsidiary was hijacked in 2008, Saadé led negotiations that ended with the captives’ release. The incident is a notable example of work outside routine commercial shipping management, documented in Marine Log’s account of his career.
He became vice chairman and a board member in 2010. CMA CGM’s official biography also credits him with supervising the group’s financial restructuring that year. His advancement therefore included financial responsibilities alongside shipping operations.
The contrast between Rodolphe Saadé and Greg Hayes is already visible at this stage: Saadé developed within a family-controlled shipping group, while Hayes advanced through an industrial management career. Both, however, reached senior leadership after taking on substantial responsibilities within their organizations.
Taking Charge of CMA CGM
Succession and International Expansion
Jacques Saadé appointed his son chief executive in February 2017 while initially retaining the chairmanship. Rodolphe became chairman and CEO in November that year. Distinguishing these appointments matters because the transfer of executive responsibility and the board leadership occurred separately.
Before becoming CEO, he helped lead the transaction involving Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines. The offer began in 2015, and he became president of NOL’s board in 2016. The deal was an important step in CMA CGM’s international shipping expansion.
He also led negotiations for the OCEAN Alliance operating agreement with COSCO Shipping, Evergreen and OOCL. This added another dimension to his career: working with other major shipping companies on operational cooperation, alongside pursuing acquisitions.
Building a Broader Logistics Group
Under his leadership, CMA CGM expanded beyond its original maritime focus. Its takeover of CEVA Logistics in 2019 was a major milestone in that development. Logistics gave the group a broader role in moving and managing goods beyond the voyage between ports.
CMA CGM announced its airfreight division in February 2021. The establishment of CMA CGM Air Cargo extended the group’s transport activities into another mode of international freight.
Further acquisitions in 2022 included Ingram’s Contract Logistics Services business, GEFCO and Colis Privé. According to CMA CGM’s official biography, these transactions added capabilities in e-commerce logistics, automotive logistics and parcel delivery. Together, they help explain why Saadé’s career is associated with diversification as well as shipping.
Environmental Decisions and Media Interests
In August 2019, CMA CGM said its container ships would avoid the Arctic route along Russia’s coast, citing environmental protection. Reuters reported the decision at the time. It was a specific operational commitment concerning a route becoming more accessible as Arctic ice declined.
Saadé’s public business profile subsequently widened through media and entertainment investments. In May 2025, Pathé announced that the Saadé family’s holding company, Merit France, had acquired a 20 percent stake in the French film company.
The distinction between a family holding company and CMA CGM is important. The Pathé investment should not simply be described as a shipping-company acquisition. Deadline’s reporting identified Merit France as the investor and explained that the partnership would support film production and cinema modernization.
Greg Hayes: Education and Professional Foundations
From Economics to Industry
Gregory J. Hayes, commonly known as Greg Hayes, graduated from Purdue University in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He worked at Sundstrand, serving as vice president of finance for its aerospace business before it became part of United Technologies in 1999.
At UTC, he became vice president and controller in 2003, took responsibility for accounting and controls in 2004, and became chief financial officer in 2008. The company’s 2014 SEC filing also identified him as a Certified Public Accountant. This financial background preceded his appointment to the top executive position, as documented in UTC’s November 2014 filing.
Although Rodolphe Saadé and Greg Hayes worked in different sectors, both careers involved learning how large businesses allocate resources and organize international operations. Their later decisions concerned entire corporate portfolios rather than a single product or service.
Becoming United Technologies CEO
Hayes became chief executive of United Technologies in November 2014. He added the chairmanship in 2016.
At the time, UTC combined aerospace operations with businesses serving other industrial markets. Hayes’s leadership became closely associated with changing that structure. His most consequential work involved deciding which businesses belonged together and which should operate independently.
The restructuring unfolded over several years, with businesses leaving the group as others joined it. The resulting organization differed substantially from the diversified industrial company he had initially been appointed to lead.
Reshaping United Technologies and Creating RTX
Sikorsky, Rockwell Collins and the Spin-Offs
UTC divested helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky in 2015. In 2018, it acquired Rockwell Collins, expanding its aerospace capabilities. These moves shifted the company’s business mix in different ways.
The subsequent separation of Otis and Carrier in 2020 was another defining development. Otis’s elevator operations and Carrier’s building-related businesses became independent companies, leaving UTC’s remaining aerospace operations available for a different combination.
Taken together, these decisions changed the scope of the company Hayes had inherited as CEO. His career became associated with corporate transformation on an unusually large scale, a progression summarized in RTX’s leadership announcement.
The Raytheon Combination
In April 2020, UTC’s remaining aerospace businesses merged with Raytheon Company to form Raytheon Technologies. Hayes became chief executive of the combined company, which later adopted the RTX name.
The combination brought together businesses with different roles across commercial aviation and defense. Pratt & Whitney contributed aircraft-engine operations, Collins Aerospace supplied aviation systems and equipment, and Raytheon brought its defense activities, as described in the company’s annual reporting.
This was the central milestone of Hayes’s executive career. His responsibility extended beyond negotiating a transaction to leading the resulting organization. The creation of a combined company also required a new corporate structure and leadership arrangements.
Leadership Transition
Christopher T. Calio succeeded Hayes as RTX CEO on May 2, 2024. Hayes continued as executive chairman, allowing the executive and board transitions to occur at different times.
He stepped down from the executive chairmanship and board effective April 30, 2025. RTX announced that he would then serve as a special adviser to the CEO through January 2, 2026.
Consequently, describing Hayes as RTX’s current chief executive or executive chairman would be inaccurate as of October 2026. His biography should identify those positions as former roles while recognizing his importance in the company’s formation.
Rodolphe Saadé and Greg Hayes: Leadership and Public Significance
The two executives changed their companies through different approaches to corporate structure. Saadé added activities around a shipping core, extending into logistics and air cargo. Hayes narrowed UTC’s industrial portfolio before combining its remaining aerospace businesses with Raytheon.
Their ownership settings differed, too. CMA CGM is a family-controlled business, while RTX is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. These are distinct settings for making investment decisions and managing accountability to shareholders.
Their records also illustrate different forms of succession. Saadé took over a business established by his father after more than two decades inside the group. Hayes advanced through professional management and eventually transferred leadership to another executive.
Rodolphe Saadé and Greg Hayes have attracted attention because the businesses they led connect corporate decisions with wider economic activity. Shipping and logistics affect the movement of goods, while aerospace and defense involve airlines, manufacturers and government customers. Their importance is grounded in those responsibilities and documented decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are Rodolphe Saadé and Greg Hayes?
Saadé is the chairman and CEO of CMA CGM, a shipping and logistics group. Hayes is the former CEO of United Technologies and RTX and a former RTX executive chairman.
How old is Rodolphe Saadé?
Forbes lists Saadé as 56 as of October 30, 2026. CMA CGM’s official biography confirms that he was born in Lebanon in 1970.
What did Greg Hayes study?
Hayes earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Purdue University in 1982. His subsequent career included finance, strategy and senior industrial management.
When did Greg Hayes leave RTX’s leadership?
He relinquished the CEO position on May 2, 2024, and the executive chairmanship and board membership on April 30, 2025. His announced special-adviser term ran through January 2, 2026.
Did Rodolphe Saadé found CMA CGM?
No. His father, Jacques Saadé, established the shipping business in Marseille in 1978. Rodolphe joined the group in 1994 and became CEO and chairman in separate appointments during 2017.
Conclusion
Rodolphe Saadé and Greg Hayes built influential careers by changing the reach and structure of major businesses. Saadé carried a family shipping enterprise into broader logistics and additional investment fields. Hayes helped reshape a diversified industrial company and led the aerospace and defense group created from its remaining operations and Raytheon.
Their biographies are most revealing when measured through those concrete milestones: years of internal experience, major transactions, expanding responsibilities and carefully dated leadership transitions. Together, their careers show how executive decisions can redirect companies whose operations extend across the global economy.
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