Who is Olivier Dassault's wife Natacha Nikolajevic?
Olivia House
Published Sep 23, 2026
FRENCH billionaire Olivier Dassault was killed in a helicopter crash on March 7.
He is survived by his wife of 12 years, Natacha Nikolajevic.
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Who was Olivier Dassault?
Olivier Dassault was a French aviation industrialist and Conservative politician.
The 69-year-old was heir to a powerful family business empire that made Falcon private jets and Rafale fighter planes.
His family also owned many other businesses, including Le Figaro newspaper.
Forbes magazine listed Dassault as one of the world's top 500 richest people in 2020.
He held executive positions at the family-owned Dassault Group as well as serving in the lower house of parliament as a lawmaker from the conservative Republicans party since 2002.
He was the grandson of Marcel Bloch, a famed aeronautical engineer who changed his name to Dassault, which means "on the attack" in French.
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After helping to develop an innovative propeller used on French aircraft in World War I, Marcel was imprisoned during World War II and deported to a Nazi concentration camp after refusing to collaborate with Germany's aviation industry.
Control of Dassault Aviation passed to Olivier's father Serge, but he had not named an heir to succeed him when he died in 2018.
Olivier once declared himself "the most qualified" of Serge's four children, earning a stern public rebuke from his father.
He appeared to be on track to take the reins, but shortly before his father's death he resigned as chairman of the group's supervisory board because he said the role was incompatible with his parliamentary duties.
Who is Olivier Dassault's wife Natacha Nikolajevic?
Dassault shares two children his first wife – Carole Tranchant - whom he married in 1989.
The couple divorced and he later married Natacha Nikolajevic, who is now 54, in Paris in 2009.
The pair reportedly met in 2004 when they were opponents in a public auction.
In 2011, they had a son, Thomas.
Natacha is the manager of a communications company in Paris.
What is Olivier Dassault's net worth?
In 2020, Forbes estimated that Dassault was the 361st most wealthy person on the planet.
His fortunate was estimated to be around five billion euros ($6billion or £4.2billion) - around the same as his three siblings.
Forbes estimated in 2018 that the Dassault family was worth about $22.6billion.
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How did Olivier Dassault die?
Dassault was killed in a helicopter crash along with the pilot in the town of Touques in Normandy on March 7.
The French national air accident investigation agency, the BEA, said the Airbus AS350 helicopter crashed just after takeoff from a private airfield.
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French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Dassault and said "his brutal death is a great loss".
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He added: "Olivier Dassault loved France. Captain of industry, local MP, reserve commander in the air force; throughout his life he never stopped serving our country."
And French Prime Minister Jean Castex hailed Dassault as "a humanist MP, a visionary entrepreneur, a man deeply committed to his country".
