Denis Ranque (born 7 January 1952 in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

) is a French engineer and businessman who served as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

Thales Group Thales Group () is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company is headquartered in Paris' ...

from 1998 until 2009.

Career

In 1976, Denis Ranque began his career as an engineer of the

Corps des mines The ''Corps des mines'' is the foremost technical Grand Corps of the French State (grands corps de l'Etat). It is composed of the state industrial engineers. The Corps is attached to the French Ministry of Economy and Finance. Its purpose is to e ...

at the Ministry of Industry where he held various positions in the field of energy until 1983. He then joined the

Thomson-CSF Thomson-CSF was a French company that specialized in the development and manufacture of electronics with a heavy focus upon the aerospace and defence sectors of the market. Thomson-CSF was formed in 1968 following the merger of Thomson-Houst ...

as "directeur du Plan" for one year. In 1984, he was appointed director of space affairs for the "Tubes électroniques" division. In 1986, he was appointed director of the "Tubes hyperfréquences" department, which was spun off in 1988 as Thomson Tubes Electroniques (TTE), a company of which he was chairman and CEO from 1989 to 1992. In April 1992, Denis Ranque was appointed Chairman and CEO of Thomson-Sintra Activitiés sous-marines (Thomson Sintra ASM). Four years later, he was appointed by Thomson-CSF and GEC-Marconi as CEO of the joint company they created in the field of sonar systems,

Thomson Marconi Sonar Thomson Marconi Sonar or TMS was formed in 1996 by the merger of the sonar systems businesses of French defence electronics specialist Thomson-CSF and British company GEC-Marconi after the payment of a balance by the latter. The new company was 50 ...

. He resigned from his position as chief mining engineer in 1996. In 1998, Ranque was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of

, rebranded

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded him ...

in 2000. In 2008, his total salary, including bonuses and options, was €1.8 million. By 2009, he met increased pressure to step down after his opposition to Dassault Aviation becoming the company’s core industrial shareholder. He resigned from Thales in May 2009. In 2013,

EADS Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

appointed Ranque as its next chairman under a new shareholder structure, replacing

Arnaud Lagardère Arnaud Lagardère (; born 18 March 1961) is a French businessman, the General and Managing Partner of Lagardère SCA, holding company of the Lagardère Group. He is the son of Jean-Luc Lagardère, the former chairman of Matra and Hachette. Career ...

. The French government had initially backed

Anne Lauvergeon Anne Lauvergeon (born 2 August 1959) is a French businesswoman who served as CEO of Areva from 2001 until 2011. According to ''The Wall Street Journal'', she is known internationally as one of the most prominent defenders of nuclear power. Earl ...

for the role but EADS insisted on picking one of the board’s independent majority in an effort to curb political influence from France and Germany. At the end of 2021 he was elected President of the

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 ...

(FNAT), effective 1 January 2022. Also, he is the President of the

International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences The International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS) is an independent nonpolitical and non-governmental international organization of engineering and technological sciences academies, one member academy per coun ...

(CAETS) Board of Directors in 2022 year.

Other activities

Corporate boards

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 ...

, chairman of the board of directors (2013-2019) *

CMA CGM CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company. It is the world’s 3rd largest container shipping company, using 257 shipping routes between 420 ports in 160 countries. Its headquarters are in Marseille, France The name ...

, independent member of the board of directors *

Saint-Gobain Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of ...

, independent member of the board of directors (since 2003)Board of Directors

. * Scilab Enterprises, independent member of the board of directors (−2017) *

Bpifrance ''Banque publique d'investissement'' (literally ''renchPublic Investment Bank'', also known as Bpifrance, BPI Groupe S.A.) is a French public investment bank. It is a joint venture of two public entities: the Caisse des dépôts et consignations ...

, independent member of the board of directors (2011–2012) *

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

, non-executive chairman of the board of directors (2010–2012)

Non-profit organizations

, the National Academy of Technologies and Engineering of France, President since 1 January 2022. * La Fabrique de l'Industrie, co-chairman (2014–2017) * Cercle de l'industrie, chairman (2002–2012)

External links

Thales"> Official Thales
webpage

References

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