Bernard Attali (born 1943) is a French business executive, political advisor and one-time novelist. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

from 1988 to 1993. He is a senior advisor to

TPG Capital TPG Inc., previously known as Texas Pacific Group and TPG Capital, is an American private equity firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. TPG manages investment funds in growth capital, venture capital, public equity, and debt investments. The firm in ...

and

Bank of America Merrill Lynch BofA Securities, Inc., previously Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), is an American multinational investment banking division under the auspices of Bank of America. It is not to be confused with Merrill, the stock brokerage and trading pla ...

Early life

Bernard Attali was born on 1 November 1943 in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

(now

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

). His twin brother,

Jacques Attali Jacques José Mardoché Attali (; born 1 November 1943) is a French economic and social theorist, writer, political adviser and senior civil servant. A very prolific writer, Attali published 86 books in 54 years, between 1969 and 2023. Atta ...

, is an economist and political advisor. He also has a sister, Fabienne. Their parents were

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. Their father, Simon Attali, was trained as a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and made a fortune in the fragrance industry. The family moved to

Mainland France Metropolitan France ( or ), also known as European France (), is the area of France which is geographically in Europe and chiefly comprises the mainland, popularly known as "the Hexagon" ( or ), and Corsica. This collective name for the European ...

, settling in the

16th arrondissement of Paris The 16th arrondissement of Paris (; ) is the westernmost of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. Located on the city's Right Bank, it is adjacent to the 17th and 8th arrondissements to the northeast, as well as to the ...

in 1956, two years into the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

. Attali took piano lessons from the age of five. He graduated from

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

in 1966 and the

École nationale d'administration The (; ENA; ) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by the then Provisional Government of the French Republic, provisional chief of government Charles de Gaulle and principal co-author of the Constitution of France, 1958 Constitution M ...

(ENA) in 1968.

Career

Attali became an advisor to the

Court of Audit A Court of Audit or Court of Accounts is a supreme audit institution, i.e. a government institution performing financial and/or legal audit (i.e. statutory audit or external audit) on the executive branch of power. See also *Most of those ...

in 1974; he was promoted to the rank of master advisor in 1991. Attali served as the financial director of the

Club Med Club Med SAS, commonly known as Club Med and previously known as Club Méditerranée SA, is a French travel and tourism operator headquartered in Paris, specializing in all-inclusive holidays. Founded in 1950, the company has been primarily ow ...

from 1980 to 1981. He then served as the head of

DATAR DATAR, short for ''Digital Automated Tracking and Resolving'', was a pioneering computerized battlefield information system. DATAR combined the data from all of the sensors in a naval task force into a single "overall view" that was then transmi ...

from 1981 to 1984. He served as the president of the Groupe des Assurances Nationales (GAN) from 1984 to 1986. Attali was the CEO of

from 1988 to 1993. He oversaw the acquisition of

Union de Transports Aériens Union de Transports Aériens (; abbreviated as UTA and sometimes known as UTA French Airlines), was a private independent airline in France that operated from 1963 until it merged with Air France in 1992. UTA was formed by the merger of Union ...

in 1989 and

in 1992. Attali subsequently worked for Arjil & Associés Banque, an investment bank, from 1993 to 1996. He was CEO of Bankers Trust France, the French subsidiary of

Bankers Trust Bankers Trust was a historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997 before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. Deutsche Bank sold the Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corp ...

, from 1996 to 1998. He was the vice-chairman of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

Europe Investment Banking from 1999 to 2000. In 2007, Attali joined

as a senior advisor. He is also a senior advisor to

, and a director of

SFR SFR S.A. (or Altice France S.A. for the group) (; ) is a French telecommunications company. It is both the second-oldest mobile network operator and the second largest telecommunications company in France, after Orange. The group, Altice Fr ...

. Attali is the author of two non-fiction books and a novel, ''La mise en examen''. In 2015, he authored a report about the future of the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

for the French government. Attali became an Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in July 1998.

Works

* * *

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Attali, Bernard 1943 births Living people Pieds-noirs Businesspeople from Algiers Businesspeople from Paris French people of Algerian-Jewish descent Officers of the Legion of Honour French chief executives 20th-century French businesspeople 21st-century French businesspeople French corporate directors French non-fiction writers French male novelists 21st-century French novelists Deutsche Bank people TPG Capital people 21st-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers Sciences Po alumni École nationale d'administration alumni Judges of the Court of Audit (France)