Thierry Breton
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Thierry Breton (; born 15 January 1955) is a French business executive, politician, writer and the current Commissioner for Internal Market of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. Breton was vice-chairman and CEO of
Groupe Bull Bull SAS (also known as Groupe Bull, Bull Information Systems, or simply Bull) is a French computer company headquartered in Les Clayes-sous-Bois, in the western suburbs of Paris. The company has also been known at various times as Bull General El ...
(1996–1997), chairman and CEO of Thomson-RCA (1997–2002) and chairman and CEO of
France Télécom Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 5 ...
(2002–2005). In 2005 he entered politics serving as Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry (2005–2007) in the governments of Prime Ministers
Jean-Pierre Raffarin Jean-Pierre Raffarin (; born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. Howeve ...
and
Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Minist ...
, during the presidency of
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
. From 2007 to 2008 he was a professor at
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
before joining group
Atos Atos is a European multinational information technology (IT) service and consulting company headquartered in Bezons, France and offices worldwide. It specialises in hi-tech transactional services, unified communications, cloud, big data and ...
from 2009 to 2019 as its CEO. Since 2019, he has been European Commissioner for Internal Market under the presidency of
Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 an ...
.


Early life and education

Breton was born in the
14th arrondissement of Paris The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory", after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is situa ...
. His father was a civil servant in the agency responsible for developing nuclear energy.Caroline Chaumont (3 May 2005)
The Rescuer
'' European Voice''.
He completed his middle and high school education at the
École alsacienne The École alsacienne is a co-educational private school located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. The school was founded by a group of French Alsatians after the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. It then became a model for reforming t ...
in Paris and
University-preparatory school A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where t ...
classes for the
Grandes écoles Grandes may refer to: * Agustín Muñoz Grandes, Spanish general and politician *Banksia ser. Grandes, a series of plant species native to Australia * Grandes y San Martín, a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain ...
at
Lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on rue Saint-Jacques in central Paris. It was founded in the ...
. Breton received a master's degree in
Electrical Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
and
Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
from
École Supérieure d'Électricité École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Sav ...
(Supélec, now
CentraleSupélec CentraleSupélec (CS) is a top French graduate engineering school of Paris-Saclay University in Gif-sur-Yvette, France. It was established on 1 January 2015, as a result of a strategic merger between two prestigious grandes écoles in France, ...
) in 1979 and later graduated from the ''Institut des hautes études de défense nationale'' ( IHEDN).


Career in business

Breton began his career in 1979 as a teacher of IT and Mathematics at the
Lycée Français de New York The Lycée Français de New York (LFNY), commonly called the Lycée (in English, "The French High School of New York"), is an independent bilingual French school serving an international community of students from Nursery-3 to twelfth grade based ...
as part of his military service through cooperation. In 1981 he created ''Forma Systems'', a systems-analysis and software-engineering company of which he became CEO until 1986. In 1986 Breton became adviser to the French Ministry of Education and Research
René Monory René Monory (6 June 1923 – 11 April 2009) was a French centre-right Gaullist politician. Biography René Monory was born in Loudun and began his career as the owner of a garage. He was the founder of the Poitiers Futuroscope. Monory firs ...
and designed open-air science and technology theme park
Futuroscope Futuroscope, or Parc du Futuroscope (), formerly known as Planète Futuroscope, is a French theme park based upon multimedia, cinematographic futuroscope and audio-visual techniques. It has several 3D cinemas and a few 4D cinemas along with ...
. From 1990 to 1993, he was managing director of
CGI Group CGI Inc. is a Canadian multinational information technology consulting and systems integration company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. CGI has a market value of $21.8 billion, making it one of the top 30 companies in Canada. The c ...
, a global information technology company.


Groupe Bull

In 1993, the French government hired Breton to help turn around troubled national computer maker
Groupe Bull Bull SAS (also known as Groupe Bull, Bull Information Systems, or simply Bull) is a French computer company headquartered in Les Clayes-sous-Bois, in the western suburbs of Paris. The company has also been known at various times as Bull General El ...
. As second in command, he managed to restructure the stock-market listed company and became in 1996 Vice-President of the board of directors. He is widely credited with pulling Bull from the edge of bankruptcy.


Thomson

In 1997, the French government named Breton chairman and CEO of Thomson Multimedia, a state-owned consumer-electronics company that was on the verge of collapse. A year before France's prime minister
Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the coun ...
unsuccessfully tried to sell the company to South Korea–based Daewoo for a single franc. Breton made stock offerings to generate cash and diversified the company's businesses, figuring that consumer-electronics products were not high-end enough to consistently earn profits over the long term. Breton involved Thomson in interactive television, electronic publishing, and the Internet, as well as the higher-margin business of digital film-editing services. Thomson began manufacturing televisions with built-in software to run the electronic reference. Thomson's new ventures instilled investors with renewed confidence in the company and allowed Breton to attract bigname companies such as
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
,
Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a su ...
,
NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...
, and the
DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...
division of Hughes Electronics. By 1999 Thomson was turning a $230 million profit on sales of $6.5 billion. By the time Breton left in 2002, revenues had increased by more than 80 percent and Thomson was outperforming
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
, Matsushita, and
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
, its major consumer-electronics competitors. He was named Honorary President of the company in September 2002 following his departure for France Télécom.


France Télécom

Widely acclaimed as a "turnaround whiz", Breton was named by French government as head of multinational telecommunications corporation
France Télécom Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 5 ...
on 2 October 2002. In the previous year, the company's share price had fallen about 70% while debts have ballooned to 60 billion euros ($54bn). A risky acquisition strategy that included mobile phone operator
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
, data carrier
Equant Equant (or punctum aequans) is a mathematical concept developed by Claudius Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD to account for the observed motion of the planets. The equant is used to explain the observed speed change in different stages of the plane ...
and Internet service provider (ISP)
Freeserve Freeserve was a British Internet service provider, which was founded in 1998. At its height, the company became a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, before merging into the Wanadoo group in 2000. It then became a subsidiary of France Telecom, ...
as well as several new, third-generation mobile phone licences had left France Telecom with the infamous title of the ''world's most indebted listed company''. At the time Breton took over share prices were worth less than 7 euros. Two months after his arrival these share prices had risen by 170%. He launched ''Ambition FT 2005'' and generated a three-tiered plan that called for cutting costs to increase cash flow, refinancing debt, and generating $16 billion from shareholders through a capital increase, all in efforts to save $30 billion over three years The operator was simultaneously facing an intensification of the competition in its long time market of France, as well as a demand from the ARCEP to unbundle
ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...
. As a response to these challenges Breton notably ended
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
’s venture on the stock market and took back complete control over the subsidiary and its earnings. In July 2003 he launched the plan ''Broadband internet for all'' with the objective of providing broadband to 90% of the French population. To do this he increased spending in the innovation sector by 20% and launched the charter ''Innovative Departments'' to speed up the development of broadband in rural areas. The following year the company recorded more than 7000 patents filed in France and abroad. In the same year France Télécom reintegrated with
Wanadoo Wanadoo was the Internet service provider division of Orange S.A. It operated in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Mauritius, Madagascar, Lebanon and Jordan. It ceased to operate as ...
to integrate fixed telephony and
service provider A service provider (SP) is an organization that provides services, such as consulting, legal, real estate, communications, storage, and processing services, to other organizations. Although a service provider can be a sub-unit of the organization t ...
activities. In July 2004 Breton announced the launch of
Livebox Orange Livebox is an ADSL wireless router available to customers of Orange's Broadband services in Kenya, Guinea, France, Tunisia, Spain, Jordan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, The United Kingdom ( Formerly), Mauritian part ...
, the operator's first
Triple Play In baseball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three outs during the same play. There have only been 733 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of just over five per season. Th ...
offer and France Télécom would become the first organisation to implement the concept of ''integrated operator''. In September 2004 the French government finalised the privatisation of France Télécom on which it had been working progressively since 1996. However, in accordance with the law of 31 December 2003 proposed and supported by Breton, the specific status of the employees was maintained. When he left the company for the Ministry of the Economy in February 2005 the share price was 23 euros. In less than three years the company's debt was reduced to less than 40 billion euros. He was named as Honorary President of France Télécom. In January 2010 the ''Harvard Business Review'' first published a list of "The 100 Best-Performing CEOs in the World" which was based on an academic study comparing the performances of the heads of industry of the 2,000 biggest global companies, in their relevant fields, from 1995 to 2009. Breton held the 62nd position for his term as CEO of France Télécom.


Atos

After two years of government service (2005–2007) he became in November 2008 the executive chairman and CEO of private-owned
Atos Atos is a European multinational information technology (IT) service and consulting company headquartered in Bezons, France and offices worldwide. It specialises in hi-tech transactional services, unified communications, cloud, big data and ...
S.A., formerly Atos Origin. On the announcement of his nomination the share price, which was previously valued at 18 euros, rose by 7.84%. In 2008 Atos generated a sales revenue of 5.5 billion euros with a headcount of 50,000 employees but according to Breton was "managed too compartmentally" and the company's inferior profitability margins compared to those of its competitors required a complete transformation plan. In July 2011 he orchestrated the acquisition of the IT activities of German industry group
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
which allowed the company to rank number one among the European IT services players and in the Top 5 worldwide, with 75 000 employees in 42 countries. The deal, valued at €850m ($1.1bn), was the biggest Franco-German transaction since an alliance between Germany's premium carmaker Daimler and France's
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
early this year. The operation was lauded by the financial markets and the Atos share price rose by 11.6%. With the integration of 28,000 engineers Atos became one of the most important Franco-German industrial collaborations since
Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
, illustrated particularly by a financial partnership (Siemens took 15% of Atos’ capital), and a common investment fund of 100 million euros was created as well as a joint response to international tenders. This strategy was awarded the prize for Industrial cooperation by the Franco-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2012 Breton adopted the
Societas Europaea A ''societas Europaea'' (, ; "European society" or "company"; plural: ; abbr. SE) is a public company registered in accordance with the corporate law of the European Union (EU), introduced in 2004 with the Council Regulation on the Statute f ...
for Atos which gave the company two headquarters, one in France and a second in Munich, Germany. Furthermore, he participated in other European institutional projects in which the Franco-German partnership played a central role such as the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
’s European Cloud Partnership (2012–2014) over which he co-presided with Jim Snabe, the co-CEO of the German software company
SAP Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separ ...
. In May 2014 Breton launched a friendly takeover on French historic IT industry player Bull, turning Atos into the number one European company and one of the major global players in
Big Data Though used sometimes loosely partly because of a lack of formal definition, the interpretation that seems to best describe Big data is the one associated with large body of information that we could not comprehend when used only in smaller am ...
and
Cybersecurity Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...
. This acquisition, again commended by the markets (Atos’ share price rose by 6.2% and Bull's by 21.9% the day of the announcement) notably allowed the company to position itself in the supercomputing segment and to become the sole European manufacturer. Six months later he announced Atos’ acquisition of
Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...
’s IT outsourcing activities as well as a strategic partnership with the American company. This operation, which was viewed favorably by the Stock Market, made Atos one of the five largest digital companies in the world. The company had doubled in size within six years with a headcount of around 100,000 employees. Breton received world attention after an interview with the ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' in 2011 when he reiterated his intention to ban internal email, dubbed as "the pollution of the information age", at Atos within 18 months (known as the zero-email strategy), replacing internal emails by a set of enterprise social networks, enterprise instant messaging, collaborative tools etc..., both being developed inhouse and partially aggregated from other vendors. In May 2015 the company's market capitalization rose to 7.29 billion euros, an increase of more than 5 billion euros compared with November 2008 when Breton took over office. The market share price of Atos grew by 268% in five years. In 2018 October Atos announced acquisition with Syntel Pvt. Lmt. An Indian company.


Minister of Finance

Having already been proposed twice to succeed
Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
as Finance Minister, Breton was appointed on 24 February 2005 while at France Telecom, replacing
Hervé Gaymard Hervé Gaymard (born 31 May 1960) is a French politician and a member of The Republicans conservative party. He served as the country's Minister of Finances from 30 November 2004 until his resignation on 25 February 2005. Gaymard attended S ...
. At the time, he was the country's fourth finance minister within just one year. During his two and a half years at the head of Bercy, Breton centred his economic policy on the need to reform
public finances Public finance is the study of the role of the government in the economy. It is the branch of economics that assesses the government revenue and government expenditure of the public authorities and the adjustment of one or the other to achie ...
, specifically to reduce debt. In June 2005 he declared that France ''lives beyond its means'', a sentiment echoing the words of the Prime Minister
Raymond Barre Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (; 12 April 192425 August 2007) was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents (Rey, ...
in 1976. He stated to the French people that the entirety of their income tax would serve only to finance the interest payments on the national debt. A month later he set up a commission presided over by BNP Paribas CEO Michel Pébereau which was given the task of ''breaking the pattern of public debt''. He stipulated the maintenance of
public deficit Within the budgetary process, deficit spending is the amount by which spending exceeds revenue over a particular period of time, also called simply deficit, or budget deficit; the opposite of budget surplus. The term may be applied to the budget ...
below a level of 3% of GDP in 2005 and 2006 as his primary goal. At the end of 2005 France's deficit fell to 2.9% of its GDP after three consecutive years of surpassing the figure of 3%. In 2006 the public deficit was further reduced to 2.5% and public debt was recorded to have dramatically fallen to 63.9% of GDP. For the first time since 1995 the country's budget was in a situation of primary surplus. At the same time France's GDP rose by 2.1% in 2006 compared with 1.7% in 2005. In October 2005 Breton proposed a law on "the modernization of the economy" which was voted in the same year and looked to prioritize SMEs’ access to financial markets, encourage research and promote giving employees a stake in the company's outcomes. On this occasion he also announced himself in favor of the status of the
Societas Europaea A ''societas Europaea'' (, ; "European society" or "company"; plural: ; abbr. SE) is a public company registered in accordance with the corporate law of the European Union (EU), introduced in 2004 with the Council Regulation on the Statute f ...
being written into French legislation to allow businesses to operate throughout the EU on the basis of a unified set of financial rules. At the same time he led a reform for fiscal simplification which attempted to reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to four and put in place a pre-filled internet based declaration of revenues. During this period he unveiled the concept of the
tax shield A tax shield is the reduction in income taxes that results from taking an allowable deduction from taxable income. For example, because interest on debt is a tax-deductible expense, taking on debt creates a tax shield. Since a tax shield is a way ...
, which he would initiate in 2006 at a level of 60% excepting health insurance and social debt reimbursement. This was taken up again by Sarkozy in 2007 with a lowering of the level to 60% and an inclusion of health insurance and social debt reimbursement. Breton wanted France to be the first country to move forward in developing its immaterial heritage. Thus in March 2007 he entrusted a report to
Maurice Lévy Maurice Lévy (February 28, 1838, Ribeauvillé – September 30, 1910, Paris) was a French engineer and member of the Institut de France. Lévy was born in Ribeauvillé in Alsace. Educated at the École Polytechnique, where he was a student ...
and Jean-Pierre Jouyet on the economy of the immaterial with the goal of creating an agency for the immaterial heritage of the state which ambition would be to valorize the state's immaterial assets (use of image; brands etc.) This one-of-a-kind agency was put in place on 23 April 2007. This immaterial heritage was recorded as 10 billion euros worth of assets in the state's annual report in 2010. By February 2007 the unemployment rate was at 8.4%, the lowest recorded score since June 1983. He finished his term on 15 May 2007 at the end of Jacques Chirac's five-year term. The handover of power to
Jean-Louis Borloo Jean-Louis Marie Borloo (; born 7 April 1951) is a French politician who served as president of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) from 2012 to 2014. He also was Minister of the Economy, Finance and Employment in 2007 and Minister of ...
, named as Minister of the Economy by the newly elected President of the French Republic Nicolas Sarkozy, took place the following day.


Other activities

In 2008, Breton was considered for chairing Protectinvest, a private foundation in Belgium set up by French billionaire
Bernard Arnault Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault (; born 5 March 1949) is a French business magnate, investor, and art collector. He is the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world's largest luxury ...
to safeguard the integrity of the LVMH group until 2023.


International organizations

*
Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field office ...
(ADB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2005–2007) *
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially focus ...
(EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2005–2007) *
European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions ...
(EIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2005–2007) *
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
(IMF), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2005–2007)


Corporate boards

* Sonatel, Independent Member of the Board of Directors (2016-2019) *
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
, Member of the Global Advisory Council (2013-2019) * SATS Ltd., Member of the Board of Directors (2015–2018) * Worldline SA, Chairman of the Board of Directors (2014–2019) *
Carrefour Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, whic ...
, Independent Member of the Board of Directors (2008–2019) * Rhodia, Member of the Board of Directors (–2005) *
Groupe Bull Bull SAS (also known as Groupe Bull, Bull Information Systems, or simply Bull) is a French computer company headquartered in Les Clayes-sous-Bois, in the western suburbs of Paris. The company has also been known at various times as Bull General El ...
, Chairman of the Board of Directors (2004–2005) * AXA, Member of the Board of Directors (2001–2005) * La Poste, Member of the Board of Directors *
Dexia Dexia N.V./S.A., or the Dexia Group, is a Franco-Belgian financial institution formed in 1996. At its peak in 2010, it had about 35,200 members of staff and a core shareholders' equity of €19.2 billion. In 2008, the bank entered severe ...
, Member of the Board of Directors (2000–2005) *
Schneider Electric Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational company that specializes in digital automation and energy management. It addresses homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries, by combining energy technologies, real-time automatio ...
, Member of the Board of Directors (2000–2005)


Non-profit organizations

* Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI),
INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe ( Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...
, Member of the Advisory Board (2013) *
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
, Member of the European Advisory BoardDella Bradshaw (11 July 2007)
French finance minister heads for Harvard
''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
''.
*
French Academy of Technologies The National Academy of Technologies of France (''Académie des technologies'') is a learned society, founded in 2000, with an emphasis on technology, and the newest of French academies. In 2007 it acquired the status of ''établissement public'', w ...
, Member *
University of Technology of Troyes The University of Technology of Troyes (''Université de Technologie de Troyes''; ''UTT'') is a French university, in the Academy of Reims. The UTT is part of the network of the three universities of technology, found by the University of Techno ...
, Chairman (1997–2005)


Academic career

After leaving the government, Breton briefly worked as professor at
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
(2007–2008) where he taught Leadership and Corporate Accountability (LCA).


Author

He is the author of many books about information technology and economy, and co-author of a novel about cyberspace. * 1984 : '' Softwar'', The Emergence of Computer Virus as a weapon of mass destruction (La Guerre douce), Thierry Breton – Denis Beneich, éd. Robert Laffont, Paris; (translated in 25 countries). * 1985 : ''Vatican III'', The emergence of a Word made of information based Communities, Thierry Breton, éd. Robert Laffont, Paris * 1987 : ''Netwar'', The Networks War (La guerre des réseaux), Thierry Breton, éd. Robert Laffont, Paris * 1991 : ''La Dimension invisible'', The Emergence of Information Society (Le défi du temps et de l'information), Thierry Breton, éd. Odile Jacob, Paris * 1992 : ''La Fin des illusions'', The end of the Geek Age, Thierry Breton, Plon, Paris. * 1993 : ''Le Télétravail en France'', An early description of Teleworking in France, Thierry Breton, La Documentation française, Paris. * 1994 : ''Le Lièvre et la Tortue'', France and The Knowledge Revolution, Thierry Breton – Christian Blanc, éd. Plon, Paris. * 1994 : ''Les Téléservices en France'', An early description of the internet word, Thierry Breton, La Documentation française, Paris. * 2007 : ''Antidette'', How to reduce the over spending and major indebtedness of France, Thierry Breton, Plon, Paris.


Recognition

Breton is an officer of the
Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
and a commander of the
Ordre National du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's esta ...
. He is also a member of
Le Siècle ''Le Siècle'' ("''The Age''") is a daily newspaper that was published from 1836 to 1932 in France. History In 1836, ''Le Siècle'' was founded as a paper that supported constitutional monarchism. However, when the July Monarchy came to an end ...
.Frédéric Saliba, 'Le pouvoir à la table du Siècle', in '' Stratégies'', issue 1365, 14 April 2005, p. 4

/ref>


Decorations

* 2010: Commander in the
Order of Ouissam Alaouite Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
, Morocco * 2008: Officer in the national Order of
Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
, France * 2006: Grand Cross in the
Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...
(Al Merito de Chile), Chile * 2006: Grand officer in the national
Order of the Southern Cross Emperor Pedro I of Brazil founded the National Order of the Southern Cross ( pt, Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul) as a Brazilian order of chivalry on 1 December 1822. The order aimed to commemorate the independence of Brazil (7 September 18 ...
(Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul), Brazil * 2006: Commander in the
Order of Civil Merit The Order of Civil Merit ( es, Orden del Mérito Civil) was established by King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1926. The order recognizes "the civic virtue of officers in the service of the Nation, as well as extraordinary service by Spanish and fore ...
(orden del Merito Civil), Spain * 2004: Commander in the National Order of Merit (France) (ordre national du Mérite), France * 2001: Honorary Citizen of the City of
Foshan Foshan (, ), alternately romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the ...
, Guangdong Province, China


Awards

* 2015: Montgelas Prize, for outstanding actions in favor of French-German cooperation, Munich, Germany. * 2012: '' Les Echos'' Strategist of the Year * 2002: ''
La Tribune ''La Tribune'' () is a French weekly financial newspaper founded in 1985 by Bruno Bertez. Its main competitor is the French newspaper '' Les Échos'', which is currently owned by LVMH. From 1993 to 2007, ''La Tribune'' was part of LVMH. In 2010 ...
'' Strategist of the Year and was


Controversy

On 1 April 2021 Breton told the media that no vaccines would be exported from the EU unless Astrazeneca fulfills its obligations towards the EU. This has prompted outrage from the UK government, who claimed to have invested heavily into a factory in the Netherlands to produce vaccines for the UK. The UK has threatened to block exports of the raw ingredients to the EU should their position not change. Breton and
Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 an ...
have been described as vaccine pirates on
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
, despite production and export figures in established news sources showing otherwise.Daniel Boffey (11 March 2021)
Covid vaccine row: EU has exported 34m doses – including 9m to UK
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
In an attempt to resolve the issue, Breton initiated negotiations between all involved parties, i.e. the CEO of AstraZeneca
Pascal Soriot Sir Pascal Claude Roland Soriot (born 23 May 1959) is a French-born Australian businessman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company AstraZeneca. Early life Pascal Soriot was ...
, and the Dutch,
Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...
based AZ subcontractor vaccine plant, Halix. During these meetings, it emerged that AstraZeneca had conceded that all but one batch of the plant’s vaccines would stay in the EU.Jon Henley and Daniel Boffey (9 April 2021)
UK recognition of EU’s vaccine effort would not go amiss, says Brussels
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
In late 2005, French police carried out at least a dozen raids – including on Breton's office – in connection with complaints about accounting irregularities at Rhodia between 1999 and 2004 and in connection with the sale of assets by the pay-television company Canal Plus to the electronics company
Thomson Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson Mic ...
.


Personal life

Breton has been married to journalist Nicole-Valerie Baroin since 1982. They have one son and two daughters, with grandchildren living in Berlin. Breton speaks some German.Laura Kayali (4 December 2019)
Thierry Breton: High-speed commissioner
''
Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the German-owned news organization ''Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices ...
''.
In July 2019, two men wearing ski masks and gloves and wielding handguns broke into Breton's Paris home, beat him and locked him up along with his wife and their live-in chauffeur. The thieves made off with a diamond bracelet worth €50,000 and several hundred euros in cash.


References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Breton, Thierry 1955 births Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite French businesspeople French European Commissioners French Ministers of Finance Harvard Business School faculty Living people Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni N M Rothschild & Sons people Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Politicians from Paris Politicians of the French Fifth Republic Supélec alumni European Commissioners 2019–2024