TL;DR
Claude Guillemot, co-founder of Ubisoft in 1986 and head of gaming peripheral maker Guillemot Corp, died aged 69 in a plane crash in western France.
Claude Guillemot, one of the five brothers who co-founded Ubisoft in 1986, has died in a plane crash near the coastal town of La Baule, in western France. He was 69 years old. Guillemot and a flight instructor from Rennes died when their twin-engine Cessna 421 crashed in a field near La Baule airfield on the afternoon of June 19.
French authorities confirmed that the plane was on fire when emergency crews arrived at the scene. Guillemot, a member of a local flying club, had departed Rennes and was heading to an aviation meeting that was expected to attract more than 100 planes to the area. The cause of the accident has not been determined and an investigation is underway.
Ubisoft confirmed the death in a statement, saying the company was “Deeply saddened to learn of the death of Claude Guillemot.“The five Guillemot brothers, Claude, Yves, Michel, Christian and Gérard, founded Ubisoft on March 28, 1986 in the Breton village of Carentoir. What began as a software distribution business grew to become one of the largest video game publishers in the world, behind franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Just Dance and the Tom Clancy series.
Claude served as executive vice president in charge of operations at Ubisoft and served on the company’s board of directors. His brother Yves remains president and CEO of Ubisoft, which employs approximately 19,000 people at more than 40 studios worldwide.
Outside of Ubisoft, Claude was president and CEO of Guillemot Corporation, the publicly traded family holding company and owner of Thrustmaster, a major manufacturer of gaming peripherals, including racing wheels, flight sticks and controllers, and Hercules, which makes audio and DJ equipment. Guillemot Corp reported revenue of €197.7 million in its most recent fiscal year.
The Guillemot family’s control of Ubisoft has been a recurring theme in the gaming industry. Despite owning approximately 11% of the outstanding shares, the family maintains control through France’s Florange Law, which grants double voting rights to long-term shareholders. In 2022, Tencent, the Chinese conglomerate that has aggressively expanded its gaming portfolioinvested approximately €300 million in Guillemot Brothers Limited, the family’s private holding company, acquiring a 49.9% economic stake and receiving only 5% of the voting rights.
That deal was widely interpreted as a defensive move, allowing the Guillemots to maintain control of Ubisoft while limiting Tencent’s influence. Tencent also has a direct stake of approximately 9.46% in Ubisoft and invested €1.16 billion in Vantage Studios, a new Ubisoft subsidiary created in 2025 to manage the company’s largest franchises. The question of whether Tencent and the Guillemot family would eventually pursue a buyout has persisted for years, with no deal materializing as of June 2026.
Ubisoft has faced significant obstacles in recent years, including studio closures, layoffs affecting hundreds of employees, and a corporate restructuring that split the company into five creative divisions. The successful launch of Assassin’s Creed, a franchise that has expanded beyond games to film and televisionhelped stabilize the company after a difficult 2024, with Assassin’s Creed Shadows surpassing five million players within four months of its release in March 2025.
The death of Claude Guillemot comes at a particularly complex time for the family business he helped build. Ubisoft is facing pressure from activist investors, an ongoing strategic partnership with Tencent and a broader contraction of the gaming industry that has seen tens of thousands of jobs cut across the sector from 2023.
He is survived by his brothers and family. French media reported that tributes from Brittany’s gaming industry and business community began pouring in within hours of the announcement.
