Actu
Jean-Bernard Lévy, Chairman and CEO of Thales
December 2012 by Emmanuelle Lamandé
Mr Luc Vigneron, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Thales, having acknowledged the absence of support of the Group’s two main
shareholders, tendered his resignation to the company’s directors at a meeting of the Board
of Directors on 20 December 2012, and his resignation was accepted. The Board thanked
Luc Vigneron for the work he has accomplished for Thales since his appointment, particularly
the upturn in profitability and the improvement in the way it manages its contracts.
At this same meeting, the Board of Directors co-opted Mr Jean-Bernard Lévy as a director
and subsequently elected him to the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Thales. Thales’s two main shareholders, the French State and the Dassault Aviation,
welcome this appointment and will work in agreement with senior management to pursue the
continued recovery of the Group and its future development.
Jean-Bernard Lévy, 57, is a graduate of the École Polytechnique (1973) and Télécom
ParisTech. He began his career in 1979 with France Telecom as an engineer in Angers. In
1982, he became responsible for the management of senior staff and budgets, and was later
promoted to deputy head of personnel.
In 1986, he acts as advisor to Gérard Longuet, the French Minister for Postal and
Telecommunications services.
Jean-Bernard Lévy was General Manager, Communications satellites of Matra Espace and
then Matra Marconi Space from 1988 until 1993, when he became Chief of Staff to Gérard
Longuet, the Minister for Industry, Postal services & Telecommunications and Foreign Trade.
In 1995, he was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Matra Communication,
and in 1998 he joined Oddo et Cie as chief executive officer, then managing partner.
During summer 2002, Jean-Bernard Lévy was appointed CEO of Vivendi before serving as
Chairman of its Management Board from 2005 until June 2012.
Jean-Bernard Lévy is married with four children and is a chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur
and an officer of the Ordre National du Mérite.
