Current directorships: Joined the Board as Deputy Chairman in May 2006 before being appointed Chairman on 3 June 2009. He is President of Provestis, his own investment company and since January 2010, has been Chairman of MAF Retail Group, Dubai. He has also been Senior Advisor of Towerbrook Capital Partners since October 2010. He is a Non-Executive Director of Alcatel Lucent and Capgemini. He is also President of the HEC Business School Foundation in Paris and a member of the Advisory Board of HEC.

Expertise: He was Chairman and Chief Executive of Carrefour, the Paris-based retail group and world's second largest retailer, from 1992 to 2005. Prior to Carrefour, he was Chief Operating Officer of METRO, Germany's leading international retailer. He was previously a Non-Executive Director of Compagnie de St Gobain until June 2006.