Ross McInnes (born 8 March 1954) is a French business executive, and the chairman of

Safran Safran S.A. () is a French Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace, defence industry, defence and computer security, security corporation headquartered in Paris. It designs, develops and manufactures both commercial and military airc ...

since 2015. He has been a director of Engie since 2018

Early life

McInnes was born on 8 March 1954, in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, India, to Australian parents. His family settled in Paris in 1965. McInnes went to school at the

Lycée Janson de Sailly In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

, graduating in 1972 with a

French Baccalaureate French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. He then studied PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics) at St John's College,

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Career

McInnes started his career in 1977 in London and then in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

with the bank

Kleinwort Benson Kleinwort Benson was a leading investment bank that offered a wide range of financial services from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. Two families, the Kleinworts and the Bensons, founded two different merchant banks in ...

, then joined

Continental Bank Continental Bank () was a bank in China. It specialized in savings, warehouses, trusts and real estate business. It was founded in Tianjin in 1919 by Feng Guozhang, the acting president of Republic of China and Tan Lisun, the former Nanjing dir ...

(which became part of

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 ...

) as part of the corporate finance team, working in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and in Paris. In 1989, he moved to the industrial sector, being named chief financial officer of Ferruzzi Corporation of America, then held the same position with Eridania Béghin-Say. McInnes joined Thomson-CSF (now

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...

) in 2000 as senior vice president and CFO. He subsequently joined the PPR group as senior vice president for Finance and Strategy, before being named to the supervisory board of Générale de Santé. On request from this board, he served as interim chairman of the company's Management Board from March to June 2007. He was then named vice chairman of Macquarie Capital Europe, a company specialized in infrastructure investments.

Safran

McInnes joined Safran in March 2009 as executive vice president, economic and financial affairs and was named deputy chief executive officer, Finance in 2011. On 5 December 2014, the board of Safran approved in principle the appointment of McInnes as chairman of the board. On 25 February 2015, he was appointed by the

French Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (, MEAE) is the ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to the National Assembly. The term ...

as Special Representative for relations with Australia. His mission is to strengthen

bilateral trade Bilateral trade or clearing trade is trade exclusively between two states, particularly, barter trade based on bilateral deals between governments, and without using hard currency for payment. Bilateral trade agreements often aim to keep trade d ...

and promote France's attractiveness to Australian investors.

Honours

McInnes was made a ''Chevalier'' (Knight) of the

Légion d'honneur 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 2008, and was promoted to ''Officier'' in 2017.

References

Safran Group people 1954 births Living people Chief financial officers Alumni of St John's College, Oxford {{France-business-bio-stub