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Private company

Sygma

French photo agency

Sygma (formally known as Agence Presse Sygma or Sygma Photo News) was a French photo agency. Sygma was established in 1973, was acquired by Corbis in 1999, and went bankrupt in 2011. It was one of the largest and leading photo agencies, with offices in Paris, London and New York City, and about 500 photographers under contract.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1973Founded1

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Sygma (formally known as Agence Presse Sygma or Sygma Photo News) was a French photo agency. Sygma was established in 1973, was acquired by Corbis in 1999, and went bankrupt in 2011. It was one of the largest and leading photo agencies, with offices in Paris, London and New York City, and about 500 photographers under contract.2

Corporate structure

Sygma sits at the top of its group. 1 entity, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Sygma
    • Sygma archive Owned · France

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

What it owns

What Sygma reports owning in its annual reports to the SEC: buildings, land and equipment, real estate and locations, investments, intangible assets and inventory, at the end of its latest fiscal year and a year before.

Stakes and holdings (Wikidata)

  • Sygma archive

Things Wikidata records the company as owning, with the share when stated.1

The story

Sygma was founded in 1973 by Hubert Henrotte (co-founder of the Gamma agency) and other photographers from Gamma including Eliane Laffont and Jean-Pierre Laffont.

It was one of the largest and leading photo agencies, with offices in Paris, London and New York City, and about 500 photographers under contract.

It was acquired by Bill Gates' Corbis in 1999 and the new organisation was called Corbis Sygma.

Sygma declared bankruptcy and shut down operations in 2011 when it could not afford to pay damages resulting from a court case.

From Wikipedia’s article on Sygma (agency), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

Sygma's archive includes 50 million objects from the second half of the 20th century. It is stored at the Sygma Preservation and Access Facility, a dedicated facility in Garnay, near Paris, established in 2009.

From Wikipedia’s article on Sygma (agency), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Subsidiaries and ownership

Also owns

  • Sygma archive

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded by Branded Entertainment Network1

Timeline

  1. Jun 16, 1999Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1973Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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