David Azéma (born 22 November 1960) is a French businessman, and a former chairman and chief executive of

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service in Western Europe, connecting Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The service is operated by the Eurostar Group which was formed from the merger of Eurostar, ...

from 1999 to 2002; he worked with the French government's

Agence des participations de l'État ''Agence des participations de l'État'' (, APE, ), created in 2004 under the government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin, is the French agency responsible for managing the State's shareholdings in companies of strategic importance. As of 2022, APE has ...

, and is chairman of Global Infrastructure Group at

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

.Le Monde 2014
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Early life

He was born and brought up in Paris. His parents were both university professors. In his teenage years he thought about becoming a film director. He attended

Lycée Henri-IV The Lycée Henri-IV () is a public secondary school located in Paris. Along with the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, it is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious and demanding sixth-form colleges ('' lycées'') in France. The school educates more ...

in Paris. From the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

he gained a degree in law. He later studied Politics at

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 ...

. He then trained at 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

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, leaving in 1987.

Career

In 1993 he joined the economics department of

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

Eurostar

He joined Eurostar in March 1999. He became chairman of Eurostar in October 1999, aged 38. The company had been restructured. Eurostar had 31 trains, each costing £24m; they could run on three different electrical power systems and four different signalling systems. At the time, Eurostar had 65% of the London-Paris market. He resigned from Eurostar Group on 12 June 2002. He was replaced on 4 July 2002 by the current Eurostar chairman

Guillaume Pepy Guillaume Pepy (born 26 May 1958) is a high-ranking French civil servant who currently serves as president of the SNCF, the French national rail authority. He is also chairman of Eurostar and deputy-chairman of the Keolis Group. President Nicolas ...

, who in 2008 became Chief Executive of SNCF.

References

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azéma, David 1960 births Living people Businesspeople from Neuilly-sur-Seine Lycée Henri-IV alumni Sciences Po alumni École nationale d'administration alumni 21st-century French businesspeople French rail transport chief executives Judges of the Court of Audit (France) 20th-century French businesspeople