Ubisoft co-founder Claude Guillemot dies in plane crash at 69
Claude Guillemot, one of the five brothers who founded Ubisoft in 1986, died on June 19 in a small plane crash near La Baule in northwestern France. He was 69. The twin-engine Cessna 421 he was piloting went down on approach to a local airfield; a flight instructor on board also died. The loss comes as Ubisoft fights one of the worst financial stretches in its history.
The man behind the operations
While brother Yves Guillemot serves as Ubisoft's CEO and public face, Claude held the role of Executive Vice President of Operations — the person responsible for internal processes and the development of game technology. He was also CEO of Guillemot Corporation, the family's separately listed hardware business, which makes the Thrustmaster racing and flight-sim peripherals and Hercules audio products sold in over 150 countries.
Two weeks before the crash, on June 5, Guillemot Corp governance documents show the board had formally separated the CEO and Chairman roles — a restructuring now complicated by Claude's sudden death. No public statement has been issued naming an interim leader for either position.
A difficult moment to lose key leadership
Ubisoft was already under severe pressure. The company posted a €159 million loss for FY 2024–25, with net bookings falling 20.5% year-on-year — driven in part by underperforming titles and prolonged delays including Assassin's Creed Shadows. Claude oversaw the operational infrastructure meant to prevent exactly those kinds of problems.
With Claude gone, Yves Guillemot now faces questions about how the family group manages both the game studio and the hardware empire simultaneously, while shareholders on both sides push for a turnaround. Guillemot Corporation is listed on Euronext Paris, meaning governance continuity is a matter of public market concern, not just internal family succession.
What comes next
No succession plan has been announced for Claude's roles at either Ubisoft or Guillemot Corporation. For consumers, the near-term impact is likely limited — Thrustmaster and Hercules products remain in distribution, and Ubisoft's game release schedule is a separate operational question. The longer-term risk is whether leadership instability slows decisions at a company that can ill afford further delays.
