Patrick Thomas (born 16 June 1947) is a French business executive. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the fashion house

Hermès Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès ( , ), is a French luxury design house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Its logo, since ...

from 2003 to 2014.

Early life

Thomas was born on 16 June 1947, in the Burgundy region of France to a family of winemakers, and graduated from

ESCP Business School ESCP Business School (french: École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris) is a French business school and ''grande école'' founded in Paris and based across Europe with campuses in Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, Turin, and Warsaw. It is consist ...

Career

Thomas started his career in 1969 at

International Telephone & Telegraph ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three businesses ...

, a US manufacturing company. In 1971, he joined Pampryl, a French fruit juice producer founded by his grandfather, and then owned by

Pernod Ricard Pernod Ricard () is a French company best known for its anise-flavoured pastis apéritifs Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis (often referred to simply as ''Pernod'' or ''Ricard''). The world’s second-largest wine and spirits seller, it also produ ...

. In 1980, he became chief financial officer (CFO) of Pernod Ricard, and later the UK managing director. In 1989, he joined Hermès as chief operating officer (COO), and left in 1997 to become CEO of

Lancaster Group Coty Inc. is an American-French multinational beauty company founded in 1904 by François Coty. With its subsidiaries, it develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes fragrances, cosmetics, skin care, nail care, and both professional and ret ...

, a cosmetics company, and then became the first non-family member to be CEO of the scotch whisky producer

William Grant & Sons William Grant & Sons Ltd is an independent, family-owned Scottish company that distills Scotch whisky and other selected categories of spirits. It was established in 1887 by William Grant, and is run by Grant's descendants as of 2018. It is the ...

. Thomas became CEO of Hermès in 2003, following the retirement of

Jean-Louis Dumas Jean-Louis Robert Frédéric Dumas (2 February 1938 – 1 May 2010) was a French billionaire businessman who was the chairman of the Hermès group from 1978 to 2006. He was also the company's artistic director. Dumas is credited with turning Her ...

, until January 2014, when he retired, and was succeeded by Axel Dumas, a sixth-generation member of the Hermès-Dumas family.

References

Living people French chief executives 1947 births William Grant & Sons people Pernod Ricard people ITT Inc. people ESCP Europe alumni {{France-business-bio-stub