PARIS (AP) — French business executive Serge Dassault, a top aviation and arms industrialist, has died in his Paris office. He was 93.

Dassault's family announced his death. A brief statement from the family carried by daily newspaper Le Figaro said he died on Monday afternoon of a "cardiac deficiency."

Dassault was the son of Marcel Dassault, founder of the Dassault Group, and took over the family business after his father's death. He has been the president of honor at Dassault Aviation since 2000.

Dassault also became involved in the news business and conservative politics.

Former conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a tweet that France lost a great industrialist and the aviation world a pioneer. Sarkozy wrote: "Me, I simply lose a friend."