Emile and Isaac Pereire moved from Bordeaux to Paris in 1822 and 1823 respectively, where they initially lived in the house of their uncle , a banker. They became followers of
Saint-Simonism. They kept their commitment to Saint-Simonian beliefs despite their break with
Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin in the early 1830s. The Pereire brothers founded a leading
business conglomerate. Enterprises created or sponsored by the Pereires included: • the created in 1835, with service inaugurated in 1837, merged in 1855 into the Pereires'
Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Ouest, one of France's main railways companies, merged in 1908 into the
Chemins de fer de l'État • the
Crédit Mobilier bank, founded in 1852 and subsequently the backbone of the Pereire group, taken over by the
Banque de France in 1867 following the difficulties of the
Compagnie Immobilière • the
Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi, created in 1852, one of the major French railway companies until their nationalization into
SNCF in 1938 • the
Château Palmer winery in the
Margaux AOC region near
Bordeaux, purchased by the Pereires in 1853 and kept in the family until its sale in 1938 • the , created in 1854 to operate Paris's public transport system, merged in 1921 into
Société des transports en commun de la région parisienne, now
RATP Group • the , created in 1855 to operate Paris's gas lighting concession, liquidated in 1905 with the concession's expiry • the
Compagnie Générale Transatlantique shipping company, created in 1855 as
Compagnie Générale Maritime, one of the predecessor entities of
CMA CGM • The building later known as
Louvre Saint-Honoré, with the Grand Hôtel du Louvre and retail mall
Magasins du Louvre on its street level, created in 1855 and at the root of the
Groupe du Louvre • the Compagnie Immobilière de Paris, formed in 1856 and which in 1863 absorbed 's ailing
Société des Ports de Marseille, itself taken over by the
Banque de France together with the
Crédit Mobilier in 1867 and eventually liquidated in 1881 • the fire and accident company
La Confiance and the house insurance company
La Paternelle, both controlled from 1859, both among the predecessor entities of
Axa • the which operated major warehousing facilities in and around Paris, created in 1860, now part of
Icade • The Spanish insurance company
El Fénix Español, created in 1864 and merged in 1879 to form , now part of
Allianz The Pereires were also instrumental in the creation and/or development of businesses they did not effectively control. These included: • the
Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris, created in 1848, one of the main predecessor entities of
BNP Paribas • the
Crédit Foncier de France, created in 1852, now part of
Groupe BPCE • the
Darmstädter Bank, created in 1853–54, forcibly merged into
Dresdner Bank in 1931 • the
Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways, created in 1854 and dismantled into national companies in 1918 • the
Sociedad de Crédito Mobiliario Español bank, created in Madrid in 1855-56 and reformed in 1902 as the
Banco Español de Crédito, now part of
Banco Santander • the
Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, created in 1856 • the railway company in Russia, created in 1856 • the
Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España railway company in Spain, created in 1858 and nationalized in 1941 • the in
Saint-Nazaire, created in 1862 to build ships for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, one of the predecessor entities of the
Chantiers de l'Atlantique • the
Credito Mobiliare in
Turin, taken over by restructuring a former Rothschild venture in 1862 on the model of the
Crédit Mobilier, liquidated in 1894 in the crisis context of the formation of the
Bank of Italy • the
Imperial Ottoman Bank, reformed in 1863, eventually merged in 2001 into
Garanti Bank • the
Crédit Foncier d'Autriche, created in 1864 Even though the Pereires were not involved, their success with the
Crédit Mobilier was taken as a model for the creation in 1856 of the
Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft, the , and the
Stockholms Enskilda Bank. The Pereires also sponsored coal mining developments in Lorraine and Northern France. ==Politics and media==