Patrick Cescau (born 27 September 1948) is a French businessman and a former chief executive of

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

. He was the first combined chief executive of the English (originally

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making p ...

) and Dutch parts (originally

Margarine Unie Naamloze Vennootschap Margarine Unie (English: Margarine Union Limited) was a Dutch company formed in 1927 in Oss by the merger of four margarine companies, Antoon Jurgens United, Van den Bergh's, Centra, and Schicht's. Margarine Unie was the domi ...

) of Unilever. Since 2013, he has been the chairman of the

InterContinental Hotels Group InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), marketed as IHG Hotels & Resorts, is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the F ...

Early life

Cescau was born on 27 September 1948 in Paris. He was the son of Louise and Pierre Cescau. He earned a degree in business from

ESSEC Business School The École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (more commonly ESSEC Business School or ESSEC) is a major French business and management school, with non-profit association status (French association law of 1901) founded in 190 ...

in 1971. He subsequently earned an MBA from

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 ...

Career

Cescau joined Unilever France in 1973. In 1980 he became financial controller of Unilever Germany at Union Deutsche Lebensmittelwerke in Hamburg, which makes the Sanella margarine. From 1984 to 1986 he was based in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

. From 1986 to 1989 he was financial controller of

Unilever Indonesia Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

. From 1989 to 1991 he was at Unilever Portugal.Unilever Portugal
/ref> In 1999, Cescau became finance director of Unilever. In August 2000 Unilever announced it would split into two divisions – one for food, and the other for personal care products – whereby in January 2001 he became the Foods Division director (president, food), and Keki Dadiseth became in charge of the personal care division. Alexander Kemner had been in charge of its foods division. In October 2004, Cescau became chairman of Unilever PLC, staying until April 2005. From April 2005 to 31 December 2008, he was group chief executive of Unilever Group, the third biggest food company in the world. In February 2005 it had been announced that both the Unilever PLC and Unilever N.V. groups would be led by a single chief executive, of which he was chosen, stationed at

Unilever House Unilever House is a Grade II listed office building in the Neoclassical Art Deco style, located on New Bridge Street, Victoria Embankment in Blackfriars, London. The building has a tall, curving frontage which overlooks Blackfriars Bridge o ...

in London. Cescau served on the board of directors of Pearson PLC from 2002 to 2012, and

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

from 2009 to 2015. Since 2013, he has served as the chairman of the

. Cescau was awarded a knighthood of the

Legion of Honour 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 ...

in 2005.

Personal life

Cescau married Ursula Kadansky in 1974. They have a son and daughter, and they live in Chelsea, London.

References

External links

IHG
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cescau, Patrick 1948 births Living people Businesspeople from Paris ESSEC Business School alumni French chief executives French corporate directors French expatriates in England INSEAD alumni Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur People from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Tesco people Unilever people InterContinental Hotels Group people 20th-century French businesspeople 21st-century French businesspeople