French tycoon Bernard Tapie, whose career spanned business, sports, politics and the arts - and included scandal and prison - has died at the age of 78.

Tapie revealed in 2017 that he had cancer of the stomach and esophagus, with his family announcing his death on Sunday.

"He left peacefully, surrounded by his wife, his children and grandchildren, who were at his bedside," a family statement said, adding that he wished to be buried in Marseille, "the city of his heart."

Condolences poured in after the news of his death, led by the current French President Emmanuel Macron who hailed his "ambition, energy and enthusiasm that were a source of inspiration for generations of French people."

"This man, who had a combativeness that could move mountains and take down the moon, never gave up," his office said in a statement. 

Born in Paris, a young Tapie began his working life selling televisions by day, taking over failing companies and amassing 50 by the time he was 30.

He flaunted his wealth, buying a large property in Paris and a string of mansions on the French Riviera as well as a 72-meter yacht.

Tapie also used his fortune to buy a cycling team which twice won the Tour de France and in 1986 he purchased one of France's biggest football clubs, Olympique de Marseille, guiding them to five successive league triumphs and the 1993 Champions League title.

In 1990 he made headlines by buying the German sportswear giant Adidas - a purchase that would later come back to haunt him.

He also built a political career and was elected to the French parliament in 1989 and 1993, and the European Parliament in 1994.

But there then followed a series of legal problems, such as match-fixing during his time at Marseille, with Tapie serving six months in prison in 1997 for his role in the scandal - it also led to the collapse of his business empire and he was declared bankrupt.

He bounced back by turning to acting, most notably in a popular TV series in which he played a police inspector.

Then in a twist any fiction writer would have been proud of, in 2008 a government arbitration panel accepted he had been the victim of fraud when he sold Adidas in 1993, ruling that the brand had been undervalued and awarding him a compensation payout of $450 million.

This allowed him to repay his debts, buy France's Hersant publishing group, a string of properties and another yacht, which he named "Reborn."

But the case was appealed and in May 2017 a court ordered him to hand back the payout, leaving him broke again.

In July 2019 he was acquitted on charges of defrauding the state in the case of the controversial arbitration. However a new case was brought against him. 

That trial began in May with Tapie already ill in hospital and prosecutors demanding a five-year sentence and a $347,000 fine. Judges had been due to hand down their verdict on October 6.

After his cancer had become public, Tapie declared he would "fight like he had always done."

"The idea of dying, it does not bother me at all," he told Le Monde newspaper at the time, adding that you would need to be "crazy not to be happy with my life."