Armand Deperdussin
Armand Deperdussin in 1913
Armand Deperdussin (1860–1924) was a French industrialist. Having established himself as a silk-broker, he became involved in the aviation industry in 1910 when he founded Société de Production des Aéroplanes Deperdussin.[1] It was renamed as Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés with the same SPAD acronym, when it was taken over by Blériot Aéronautique in 1914.
Although the aircraft business became highly successful Deperdussin was disgraced in 1913 when he was accused of obtaining bank loans by fraud. He was not brought to trial until 1917. He committed suicide in 1924.