Only days after the world wept for Paris as Notre Dame burned, France’s biggest drugmaker is pledging a €10 million to help restore the monument at the heart of its home city.
Sanofi committed the donation via Twitter Wednesday. In a statement, CEO Olivier Brandicourt said the cathedral had “survived for centuries” and Sanofi would help make sure that doesn't change. The drugmaker “can be proud that our company is participating in its restoration for future generations,” he said.
It is with deep sadness that we witnessed the fire that ravaged #NotreDame, this architectural jewel of our heritage. As this tragic event touches all of us at Sanofi, we will be participating in its rebuilding through a donation of 10 million euros. pic.twitter.com/b5iXb3S9Xb
— Sanofi (@sanofi) April 17, 2019
Sanofi joins many others contributing toward restoring the cathedral after Monday's blaze. The billionaire Pinault family started the donations with a €100 million commitment, and the Arnault family followed with a €200 million contribution, the Wall Street Journal reports.
L’Oreal and its top shareholder, the Bettencourt Meyers family, plus the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, are giving €200 million, according to the newspaper. French oil company Total contributed €100 million as well, its CEO tweeted. And in total, the rebuilding fund reached $1 billion as of Wednesday morning, AP reports.
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Sanofi operates at least eight manufacturing sites and five R&D facilities in France, according to its recent annual report. The drugmaker, the seventh-largest in the world by sales, is based in Paris.
France’s president Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday the country plans to rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral in five years. Paris hosts the Summer Olympics in 2024, so the city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, said “we need to do everything we can so that Notre Dame Cathedral is returned to all its splendor for this occasion,” as quoted by the Journal. One expert told the newspaper the landmark will take 15 years to fix up.