L'Oréal CEO to step down in summer 2021

By

Sarah Ahssen

Translated by
Erin Floyd

Published
Mar 10, 2020

Jean-Paul Agon, who was named CEO of L'Oréal in 2006, then Chairman & CEO in 2011, will be leaving the global beauty giant in 2021. Agon said in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde that he will be replaced by summer 2021 and that the group would be giving priority to internal applications.

"Les statuts de l'entreprise précisent que, pour le directeur général, tout doit être réglé avant d'atteindre ses 65 ans. Or, je fêterai cet anniversaire le 6 juillet 2021. Par conséquent, la passation des pouvoirs se fera vraisemblablement entre l'assemblée générale annuelle, au printemps, et l'été", explique Jean-Paul Agon qui a intégré le groupe L’Oréal après avoir obtenu son diplôme d’HEC en 1978.

"The company statutes specify that everything has to be taken care of before the CEO reaches their 65th birthday. I will be celebrating that birthday on July 6, 2021. As a result, the handover will most likely be done between the AGM in spring, and the summer," explained Agon, who joined the L'Oréal group after obtaining his degree from French business school HEC in 1978.

Agon added that a "decoupling" of the responsibilities of the CEO is also in the pipeline, with a chairman of the board of directors and a CEO set to be appointed. Deputy CEO Nicolas Hieronimus, in charge of Divisions since 2017, is a frontrunner for the position.

L'Oréal, which registered a record 29.87 billion euros in revenue in 2019, an increase of 8%, has only had five chairmen since its creation over 100 years ago.