Thales S.A., trading as Thales Group is a French multinational corporation specialized in electronics. It designs, develops and manufactures a wide variety of systems, devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, security and land transportation sectors. The company is headquartered in Paris' business district, La Défense, and its stock is listed on Euronext Paris. Previously known as Thomson-CSF since its foundation in 1968, the group was rebranded Thales in 2000 after a communication audit highlighted Thomson-CSF's image deficit, particularly among the young French graduates it sought to recruit. The new name was thus meant to liven up its image and to better embody the company's global expansion since the 1990s. Thales is partially owned by the French state and operates in more than 56 countries. In 2019, it had 80,000 employees and generated €18.4 billion in revenue. In 2017, it was the 8th largest defence contractor in the world with 55% of its total sales from military work. Patrice Caine was appointed chairman and CEO in December 2014. Wikipedia