Laurence Danon
| Laurence Danon | |
|---|---|
| Born |
6 January 1956 Bordeaux, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Director of Cordial Investment & Consulting Ltd, Senior Advisor at Natixis Partners, non-executive Director of Amundi, non-executive Director and Chairman of Audit Committee TF1 since 2010 |
| Spouse(s) | Pierre Danon |
| Children | 2 |
Laurence Miriel Danon (born 6 January 1956) is a French businesswoman. She is Director of her Family office Cordial Investment & Consulting Ltd.
Early life
She is a graduate of the École Normale Supérieure (Ulm 1977-1981) and graduate of France's elite Corps des Mines (1981-1984), with a postgraduate diploma in Organic Chemistry and agrégée with a senior postgraduate teaching qualification in Physics.
Career
Danon began her career in 1984 at the Ministry of Industry. First head of the Industrial Development division for the Region of Picardy, she moved to the Energy and Oil Direction of the Ministry in Paris as Head of Exploration - Production.
In 1989, she joined the Elf Group where she was in charge of sales and marketing in the Polymer Division. Two years later, she was appointed Director at the Industrial Specialties Division, and in 1994 was nominated Chief Executive Officer, World Functional Polymers Division. In 1996, she was appointed CEO of Ato-Findley which became Bostik after the takeover of Elf by Total in 1999, and the merger of Ato-Findley and Bostik which was led by her. With sales above 1 Billion euros, Bostik became the number two in adhesives worldwide in 2000.
In 2001, she was nominated Chairman and CEO of Printemps, the French department store chain and Member of the Executive Committee of PPR (Pinault Printemps Redoute - now KERING). Danon managed the Group's repositioning into fashion and luxury goods. In the wake of Printemps sale in October 2006 for a record price of 1.1 Billion euros, she resigned her post in early 2007.
In 2007, she joined the world of Corporate Finance and became CEO of Edmond de Rothschild Corporate Finance.
In 2013, she joined Leonardo & Co. SAS, subsidiary of the Italian bank Banca Leonardo as Chairman of the Board.
Following on the disposal of Leonardo & Co. SAS to Natixis in 2015, she joined her Family office, Cordial Investment & Consulting Ltd. As a result of this transaction, Leonardo & Co. France is renamed Natixis Partners where she serves as Senior Advisor.
Other Activities
Danon is a non-executive director of Amundi since 2015. She is also a non-executive director of TF1 (French leading TV group) and chairs its Audit Committee. In the past, Danon held non-executive director positions at Diageo plc (2006-2015), Plastic Omnium (2003-2010), Experian plc (2007-2010), Rhodia (2008-2011) and BPCE "Banques Populaires - Caisse d'Epargne" (2009-2013).
Danon chaired the Prospectives Commission at Medef, the French employers' association from 2005 to 2013.
From 2000 to 2003, she was Chairman of the Board of the Nantes Ecole des Mines and from 2004 to 2006, Chairman of the Ecole Normale Supérieure foundation.
Danon is member of the French Academy of Technologies.
She is Officer of the French Legion of Honour.