Appointments: +15 MDs & CEOs, The Top 100 Game Changers, Government Positions, and More

More than 20 business leaders of major French and international companies, high-ranking public officials, the Order of Merit and Les Échos awards! Here’s a round-up of recent appointments in the ESSEC network. 

Sabine Roux de Bézieux (E86) and Véronique Bédague (E87) feature among Les Échos’ 100 Game Changers in 2025.  

Sabine is the founder of the Fondation de la Mer, which acts to protect biodiversity, combat ocean pollution and support research and innovation, as well as rallying companies and raising awareness of these issues among young people and the general public. She also manages the industrial group, Notus Technologies, presides over the non-profit organisation Un Esprit de Famille, is treasurer of the Alliance for Education, and sits on the administration boards of Tarkett and the Banque Transatlantique. Previously, she was Chairwoman of the NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde, after a 15-year career with Arthur Andersen, where she rose to the position of Group Marketing Manager. 

Véronique is the CEO of Nexity. She is thus at the forefront of efforts to resolve the housing crisis, and is a force to be reckoned with, having worked for the IMF, the Ministry for the Economy, Finance, Public Action and Accounts, as Secretary General to Paris City Hall, and Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Manuel Valls. 

Anthony Requin (E93) has been appointed Chairman of the Board of the Fonds de Garantie des Dépôts et de Résolution [Deposit and Resolution Guarantee Fund], which insures and compensates French citizens in the event of default by their bank. Also a graduate of ENA and Sciences Po, he has held various roles within the Directorate General of the Treasury of Ministry for the Economy, Finance & Industry, notably in the Multilateral Affairs and Development Department, the Financial Sector Department and the French Treasury Agency, where he spent 6 years as Managing Director. He was an advisor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Alternate Executive Director for France within the World Bank, and co-chair of the Club de Paris. As Inspector General of Finance, he coordinated, up to this most recent appointment, financial aid for New Caledonia to ensure economic stability and reconstruction.  

Nicolas Pernot (E87) has been appointed Chief of Staff to French Prime Minister François Bayrou. Also a graduate of Sciences Po, his early career alternated between the private sector, in marketing with Kraft General Foods, then advisor to the CEO of Cofiroute (a Vinci subsidiary), and as chief of staff in the public sector, initially for the Haute-Loire Departmental Council, followed by the Ministry for National Education. He then settled definitively in regional council roles, first as Deputy Director of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departmental Council and Le Havre City Hall, then as Director General of Services for the Le Havre conurbation, the Pau-Pyrenees urban community and the Grand-Est region successively.  

Edward Arkwright (E96) has been appointed CEO of the Altarea Group. Also a graduate of Sciences Po, he began his career as an administrator for the French Senate, followed by advisor to the ministers of the Economy, Finance & Industry, as well as Budget & State Reform ministers. He then moved to the Caisse des Dépôts, where he held the successive roles of Chief of Staff to the Managing Director and Director of Strategy & Sustainable Development. He was next appointed Deputy Manager of Finance & Strategies at Aéroports de Paris, before being made Executive Managing Director. He also presides the administration board of TAV Airports, HubOne, ADP International and ADP Invest. In parallel, he is an administrator for Choose Paris Region and Paris and Co. 

Pascal Houdayer (E92) has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Laboratoires Boiron, the pharmaceutical group operating in more than 50 countries, with 20 subsidiaries and 2,700 employees. Also a graduate of Harvard, he began his career at Laboratoire Lachartre in Paris, and spent almost 20 years with Procter & Gamble, holding managerial roles in France, Switzerland, the USA and Morocco. In parallel, he chaired the board of directors of Inula (Pranarom, Biofloral, Herbalgem). He was then successively appointed Managing Director of Orveon Global (Laura Mercier, bareMinerals, BUXOM), NAOS (Laboratoire Dermatologique Bioderma, Institut Esthederm, État Pur) and Henkel Beauty Care. 

Marc Oppenheim (E88) has been appointed CEO of Nexecur, the security subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole group. He began his career with Thomson Mass Retail, before moving to the Compagnie Générale Maritime in London and Asia. He was next appointed to Crédit Lyonnais, where he spent more than 15 years, rising to the positions of Director of General Contracting & Processes and LCL Retail Market Manager. He joined Crédit Agricole in 2010, as Director of Overseas Local Banking and then Managing Director of CA Immobilier (real estate).  

Antoine Lefebvre (E92) has been appointed Managing Director of Arkéa Assistance, a subsidiary devoted to senior citizens and healthy ageing. He began his career at BNP Paribas, prior to moving to the Crédit Mutuel Arkéa Group, where he held the successive roles of Managing Director of Arkéa Banque Entreprises & Institutionnels and Group Compliance & Permanent Control Manager. 

Thibaut Meguerdidjian (E98) has been appointed CEO of Peugeot Motocycles. He began his career with Deloitte and Pechiney prior to being appointed production and distribution controller of European cereal partners at Danone. He then spent 10 years at Schlumberger, rising to the position of Deputy Control Manager. This was followed by the successive roles of Director of Transformation Services at Alvarez & Marsal, Director of Transformation at Lapeyre, and Director with Mutares SE & Co. KGaA.  

Benjamin Faes (E95) has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of RWS, the British leader in intellectual property management, content production and automatic translation services. He began his career at AOL France, where he spent 10 years, rising to the position of Managing Director, before moving to Alphabet to develop the monetisation of YouTube in Europe. He then held various EMEA managerial positions at Google, in particular Managing Director of Google Cloud for Southern Europe and emerging markets. He was next appointed Chief Executive Officer of Webhelp UK and, upon this company’s takeover by Concentrix, was made Head of Transformation and Technologies. 

Jabeur Khaloua (EXEC M09) has been appointed Managing Director of Kardex France, the industrial leader in intralogistics, automated storage solutions and handling systems, operating in 30 countries His began his career with Case New Holland for the EMEA area, prior to joining the machinery manufacturer Ingersoll Rand as credit controller and analyst. He then held the successive roles of FP&A Manager Europe with the manufacturer Lennox International, Finance & Operations Manager for the healthcare firm Axios International, Financial Director UK for the barbecue specialist Weber, and Financial Director for Sovam, the aeronautics component supplier.  

Sophie Rosso (E08) has been appointed Managing Director of Yci Santé, a company with mission which acts for access to healthcare in the most vulnerable regions, and notably urban ‘priority districts’. She spent the first 10 years of her career with Bouygues Immobilier, rising to the position of Director of the Green Office agency. She was then made advisor to Jean-Louis Missika, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of urban planning, architecture, the Greater Paris project, economic development and attractiveness. This was followed by general management roles at Quartus & Redman, France’s leading B Corp-certified property developer. She was also the leader of the Real Estate, Cities & Territories Club and member of ESSEC Alumni’s Board of Directors. 

Sébastien Guillo (E08) has been appointed Chief Executive Officer & Managing Partner of Blunomy, which guides companies and financial institutions in their transitions to decarbonised, circular and inclusive business models and capital. He began his career with Oliver Wyman in Paris, London, Milan and Munich, before joining HSBC, where he spent more than 10 years in managerial roles, rising to the position of Head of International Corporate Coverage & Commercial Banking for Continental Europe. He is also a partner of Time for the Planet. 

Maxime Baffert (E99) has been appointed Managing Director of Haimatos, the specialist in haematology and blood disease treatment. Also a graduate of ENA, he began his career as a financial inspector, before joining the Publicis group, where he spent almost 10 years in managerial roles for various subsidiaries: Deputy Director of Performics, Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Webperformance, followed by Proximedia Europe. He then took over the general management of Viva Technology Paris, before leaving to create Bluedigo, a marketplace for reconditioned office furniture. He has also sat on the Board of Directors of ESSEC Alumni. 

Thomas Maitrejean (E00) has been made a partner within the Private Equity group at Goodwin. He previously worked for Clifford Chance, and was made a partner at the Paris office of SJ Berwin. An expert in M&A, LBO and growth, he works for French and overseas private equity funds as part of frontline French and cross-border M&A operations in energy transition, software, healthcare, food, technology and consumer goods, etc. 

Chloé Delion (E06) has been made a partner at CMS Francis Lefebvre, where she has spent more than 10 years with their international taxation team. She was previously a tax lawyer for Bredin Prat. She is a litigation consultant for cases involving international issues (international reorganisation, cross-border operations and international mobility) for French and overseas groups with expertise in property investments. 

Anthony Civico (M15) has been made a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, in the asset management department in Paris. He previously worked for international law firms in Luxembourg, such as Simmons & Simmons or Eversheds Sutherland, specifically with investment funds and management firms. 

Vincent Gellé (E00) has been appointed Deputy CEO and Chief Financial Officer of Mobilize Financial Services, the French subsidiary of Groupe Renault specialised in the financing and leasing of Renault, Dacia and Alpine vehicles. He began his career with Renault Financial Services in the UK in 2001, before moving to RCI Banque, notably in the roles of Administrative & Financial Director in South Korea and Group Performance Control Director. He then joined the financial department of Nissan in Japan, before moving to Russia as Sales Director of RN Bank. Prior to this most recent appointment, he was Director of Accounting & Group Performance Control at Mobilize Financial Services.  

Souaade Agmir (EXEC M17) has been appointed Managing Director of digital and transformation at Publicis Media France. She began her career with TV5 Monde and AOL France, prior to a 5-year stint with Dentsu, where she rose to the position of Digital Content Manager. She was then successively appointed Digital Manager and Innovation & Precision Marketing Manager at Starcom. She joined Publicis Media next, where she has held managerial roles for almost 10 years. 

Sami Biasoni (E08) has been appointed Chief of Staff to the Deputy Director and Chief Executive Officer International of Danone. He previously held the positions of Managing Director and Chief of Staff to the Deputy Director-General of Société Générale, where he oversaw the Group’s digital strategy, innovation, data and resources. He is also on the administration board of the independent media outlets neo.tv and Lou; provides strategic consulting to the digital specialist Artefact and the Superette urban farm; teaches Option Theory and Complexity Theory at ESSEC, and was recently chosen to join the 138th Class of the École de Guerre-Terre [Army War College] as a civil auditor. 

Augustin Ringô (E07) has been appointed Managing Director of the cooperative group, Rosée des Champs, which unites French producers committed to agro-ecological practices. After an early career with BP and Total, he spent almost 10 years with Cargill, rising to the position of Managing Director Ghana and Sustainable Development Director for West Africa. He then moved to the agro-food sector, initially with Terrena, where he held several managerial roles, followed by Intact, where he was made Chief Agriculture & Sustainability Officer. 

Christophe Maurin (E17) has been appointed Deputy Director in charge of resources at Seine Grands Lacs, which manages 4 reservoir-lakes for more than 12,000,000 inhabitants and 2000 animal and plant species. This holder of an Urban Economy Chair specialisation and graduate of the Sorbonne, the École Normale Supérieure and the National Institute for Territorial Studies began his career in consulting with PWC, specialising in the public sector. He then joined the Dreux conurbation as Director of Finance, followed by Deputy Director in charge of resources. He also teaches at ESSEC and is the administrator of the non-profit organisation Population et Avenir, which provides information and analyses on demographic trends, geography and population history. 

Aurélie Dyèvre (E08) has taken over from Magali Tézenas du Montcel (EXEC M09) as Managing Director of Sporsora, a non-profit organisation federating some 280 players in the sports eco-system, from advertisers to agencies, sport organisations, media outlets and educational & training institutions. She began her career in marketing with Le Coq Sportif, before her successive appointments as Head of Development for the consultancy DLCSport, Head of Partnerships at Dalloz and Head of Development at NetPME. She then co-founded the start-up Joinly (ex E-Ecotiz) with Jauffray Dunyach, which was acquired by the BPCE Group. She was next appointed Chief Operating Officer of MyCoach Sport, prior to taking up the vice-presidency of the SporTech France collective.  

Thibaud Coudriou (E10) has been appointed General Manager of Red Bull Athlete Performance Center in Los Angeles, which provides training facilities for athletes sponsored by the brand. This high-level athlete (see also our feature article) began his career in consulting with Bain & Company, before specialising in his preferred field, initially in Switzerland with UEFA and the International Cycling Union (UCI), before moving to the USA, where he has spent the last 10 years. Other notable positions include Director of Operations at AEG Sports, Director of Strategy, Marketing & Business Development in North America for Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.), and Strategic & Revenue Management Director at 24 Hour Fitness. 

Diane d’Audiffret-Van Haecke. (E05) has been made a Knight of the National Order of Merit for her actions at the helm of the non-profit group UP for Humanness, which develops social innovations for the most fragile populations and leads action research programmes around major societal issues; and of SIS UP, which guides change in organisations seeking to reposition humans and meaning at the heart of their projects. Also a Doctor of Practical Philosophy and Medical Ethics, she worked notably for the pharmaceutical group Johnson & Johnson, and was a healthcare advisor at Alcimed, before being appointed Director of Development at the Collège des Bernardins.

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