Building a Fortune One Peripheral at a Time
Long before commissioning the most exclusive Bugatti ever built, Michel Perridon made his name in a very different arena. As the driving force behind Trust International B.V., he transformed the unassuming world of computer keyboards, mice, and accessories into a thriving global enterprise. Under his leadership, the company’s products, ranging from everyday office peripherals to specialized gaming gear, found their way into homes and workplaces in more than 50 countries, distributed through major retailers and online platforms.
This commercial success was no accident. Perridon combined business acumen with an instinct for market timing, expanding into smart home devices and gaming accessories just as consumer demand for such products began to accelerate. His branding efforts extended beyond the tech industry, with Trust’s logo appearing on motorsport liveries in series from Formula 1’s Minardi to the championship-winning Red Bull Racing team in 2009. For Perridon, sponsorship was not just marketing. It was a reflection of a personal fascination with speed and engineering.
That affinity for performance would eventually lead him from the world of consumer electronics to the upper echelons of automotive collecting. The leap from designing cost-effective mice to commissioning a multi-million dollar hypercar might seem improbable, yet for Perridon both worlds are united by a belief in precision, design excellence, and the power of a well-crafted machine.
A Collector with a Historian’s Eye
Perridon’s relationship with Bugatti goes far beyond ownership of a few high-performance cars. He has amassed what is believed to be the largest collection of Bugatti memorabilia in the world, with more than 1,000 pieces that together trace the artistic and engineering legacy of the Bugatti family. Among them are works by Carlo Bugatti, the founder Ettore’s father, whose ornate furniture designs embodied the Art Nouveau movement, and bronze animal sculptures by Ettore’s brother, Rembrandt, whose artistry remains celebrated in galleries worldwide.
This deep appreciation for the brand’s heritage shapes Perridon’s approach to collecting automobiles. His garage spans a century of Bugatti history, from pre-war icons like the Type 30 and the elegant Type 57 to the supercharged Type 57C and the endurance-racing Type 57G Tank. He also preserves the EB110 Super Sport that helped revive Bugatti in the 1990s, multiple iterations of the Veyron including the Grand Sport and Grand Sport Vitesse, and several modern Chirons, among them the high-speed Super Sport.
To Perridon, each vehicle and artifact is part of an unbroken narrative of innovation. They are not isolated acquisitions but chapters in a story of artistry and mechanical mastery. His collection stands as both a private museum and a living archive, ensuring the Bugatti legacy is experienced in its full breadth, from coachbuilt elegance to the bleeding edge of hypercar performance.
The Brouillard and the End of an Era
The latest and most extraordinary chapter in Perridon’s Bugatti story is the Brouillard, a one-off hypercar commissioned through the marque’s exclusive Programme Solitaire. Carrying a price tag in excess of 12 million dollars, it will be the only car of its kind ever produced, designed around the final iteration of Bugatti’s 1,600-horsepower quad-turbocharged W16 engine. This is the mechanical swan song of an era, as the company prepares to transition toward hybridized and fully electric powertrains in the years ahead.
In keeping with Ettore Bugatti’s own passions, the Brouillard will incorporate subtle equestrian design cues, merging heritage motifs with cutting-edge aerodynamics and craftsmanship. The build will take years to complete, a reflection of the meticulous process involved in creating a car that exists at the intersection of engineering excellence and bespoke artistry. For Perridon, the project is less about speed records and more about creating an enduring cultural artifact.
His journey as a collector has not been without its moments in the public eye. In 2010, one of his Veyrons, reportedly the first in the Netherlands, was seized temporarily after his son was caught driving it at twice the legal speed limit near Rotterdam Airport. The episode made headlines, but it did little to dampen Perridon’s dedication to the marque. For him, the Brouillard will stand as the ultimate expression of a lifelong passion, a fusion of personal history, technological achievement, and the enduring allure of the Bugatti name.