President Emmanuel Macron was under fire from the French left on Friday for handing billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos the countrys highest order of merit.
Critics said the award showed Macron really was the president of the rich as he is regularly labelled by members of the opposition.
Macrons office on Friday confirmed a press report from a day earlier, saying Bezos had been given the Legion dHonneur (Legion of Honour), the French republics highest award, in a small ceremony.
The events took place on February 16, the same day hundreds of thousands of people joined strikes and protests against Macrons plan to reform the French pension system.
Critics say the reform plan is particularly unfair towards low-income workers without a university education, because they would see their already long working lives stretched out even further.
Macrons office kept quiet about the award ceremony until weekly Le Point broke the news in its latest edition.
Poster Comment:
Macron was a Rothschild employee before becoming President.