Gilles Schnepp (born 16 October 1958 in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, France) is a French corporate senior executive. He was the

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, 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 gro ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the Legrand Group between March 2006 and February 2018, and then chairman until 2020. In March 2021, he was appointed chairman of Danone's board of directors.

Career

Having graduated from

HEC Paris HEC Paris () is a business school and ''grande école'' located in Jouy-en-Josas, a southwestern outer suburb of Paris, France. It offers Bachelor, MiM, MSc in International Finance, MBA, EMBA, executive education, professional developm ...

in 1981, Gilles Schnepp begins his career in 1983 at

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

France. He was appointed vice president in 1986 and senior vice president in 1989. He left the world of finance in 1989 to join Legrand. Having served as deputy chief financial officer and later as CFO, he became vice-chairman and

of Legrand in 2004, succeeding François Granite. In 2006, he took on the role of chairman and CEO. Schnepp continued to develop the company by increasing the number of takeovers and enabled Legrand to re-enter the CAC 40 in 2011. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Schnepp was ranked among the top 100 CEOs by

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a not-for-profit, independent corporation that is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. ''HBR'' is published six times a year ...

. In 2018, he handed over part of the management of the Legrand Group to Benoît Coquart, while retaining the position of chairman of the board of directors. He stepped down as chairman of the company in July 2020, but remained a member of the Strategy and Corporate Responsibility Committee. In December that year, he joined the board of directors of the Danone Group and was appointed Chairman on 14 March 2021. Since 2020, he has been an operating advisor for Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.

Income

In 2009, Gilles Schnepp's income of one million euros is ranked 75th among the main French senior executives.

Other functions and directorships

* Member of the board of directors of

Saint-Gobain Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris as the Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs, and today headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a ...

since June 2009. * Member of the board of

Sanofi Sanofi S.A. is a French Multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. The corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 200 ...

since 2020. * Chairman of the Fédération des Industries Electriques, Electroniques et de Communication (FIEEC) between July 2013 and 2019. * Chairman of Medef’s Ecological and Economic Transition Commission and a member of the executive council from 2018 to 2021. * Vice-chairman and member of the supervisory board of Peugeot S.A between April 2019 and December 2020.

Honours

In 2007, Gilles Schnepp was awarded France's

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 ...

, receiving the title of Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. In 2012, he received the title of officer in the French

National Order of Merit (France) National Order of Merit may refer to: * National Order of Merit (Algeria) * National Order of Merit (Bhutan) * National Order of Merit (Brazil) * National Order of Merit (Ecuador) * Ordre national du Mérite (France) * National Order of Merit ...

Private life

Gilles Schnepp is married to Blandine Favre-Gilly, a psychologist, and has three children: Paul, Adrien, and Marie. He enjoys playing tennis.

External links

* Vision and Commitments: http://www.legrand.com/EN/gilles-schnepp-vision-and-commitments_12831.html * Interview with Gilles Schnepp: (fr) http://www.legrand.fr/presse/interview-de-gilles-schnepp_2591.html

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schnepp, Gilles 1958 births Living people HEC Paris alumni Businesspeople from Lyon French chief executives Knights of the Legion of Honour Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite