Jacques Méon, a French national, was born in Sweden where he spent most of his youth. After returning to France to further his higher education (studies in Economics), he moved to Japan in 1970 and joined the Berlitz Schools of Languages initially as a teacher of French before being selected as a management trainee.
After filling various positions such as School, District and Regional Director, he became in December 1976, the country’s Managing Director overseeing eight centres. The rest of Asia was added to his responsibilities in 1978 and eventually by 1993, the Asia division grew to a total of 70 centres with over 1,000 employees.
In 1993, following Robert Maxwell’s death (owner of Berlitz’s parent company Macmillan), Jacques Méon left the company and joined as President and Representative Director, CIC-Victor Video Co. Ltd., a 3 way joint-venture between Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures and JVC. This position brought him closer to the Japanese market place with a first hand experience of the Japanese distribution system and of using various key suppliers.
In 1998, Jacques Méon moved back to Europe joining Richard Lewis Communications as a Consultant and Trainer in the area of cross-cultural issues facing the company’s international corporate clients.
