Career
Having established himself as a silk-broker, he became involved in the aviation industry in 1910 after witnessing the triumphs of aviator Louis Blériot, founding Société de Production des Aéroplanes Deperdussin. In 1912 he bought Champagne Airfield, and built 30 workshops and other buildings, founding one of the first flying schools. The company went bankrupt in August 1913, and Deperdussin was disgraced in 1913 when he was accused of obtaining bank loans by fraud and forgery.
He was not brought to trial until 1917, and on March 30, 1917 he was convicted of embezzling 32 million francs from his company, fined 1,000 francs, and jailed for five years
The company was renamed the Société Pour L"Aviation et ses Dérivés (with the same SPAD acronym) when it was taken over by Blériot Aéronautique in 1914.
Deperdussin committed suicide in 1924.
