Philippe Wilmès (4 March 1938 – 24 May 2010) was a Belgian banker, businessman, and professor.
Wilmès was orphaned at a young age when his parents were killed in the bombing of Limal during World War II. He was raised by his grandparents in Luxembourg.[1]
Wilmès joined the merchant marine to fund his interest in mountaineering, serving for seven years as a sailor and then as an officer. He also taught climbing at ADEPS, and subsequently studied law at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain).[2]
Wilmès worked at the Compagnie Maritime Belge for a period and then returned to UCLouvain as an assistant lecturer. He later spent a year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and lectured in Great Britain and Canada. In 1975, he became chief of staff to Jean Gol, a member of the Liberal Reformist Party (PRL).[2] He was a founding member of the Belgian businessclub Cercle de Lorraine.
Wilmès served periods as president of the Société Nationale d’Investissement and Société Fédérale d’Investissement.[1] He became a regent of the National Bank of Belgium in 1992,[3] and was also a director of Tractebel, Petrofina, Compagnie Nationale à Portefeuille, and Fluxys.[1]
His daughter Sophie Wilmès became Belgium's first female prime minister.