François-Henri Pinault (H.85) to deliver keynote address at HEC Paris 2024 graduation ceremony

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kering, François-Henri Pinault (HEC 1985), will deliver the congratulatory speech to the 2024 graduates of the MBA, Executive MBA and Executive Masters programs, on Saturday June 8 during the commencement ceremony, which will be broadcast live on YouTube from 2:30 pm.

A visionary and committed business leader, François-Henri Pinault is an emblematic figure in the HEC alumni community. The Kering Group, which he has headed since 2005, is today one of the world's leading luxury companies, one of the most sustainable companies on the planet, and particularly active in promoting gender equality and women's empowerment.

François-Henri Pinault embodies a model of purposeful leadership and illustrates how business can be harnessed for the common good. His vision is very much in line with what we teach our students and professionals at HEC Paris.

“If the corporate world is not able to rise up to its responsibilities, well, it will lose its credibility and finally will become completely out of touch.”, he once declared in an interview.

We hope that the graduates of HEC's Class of 2024 will draw inspiration from these convictions as they pursue their careers, and in turn carry forward our mission of impact.

As an HEC alumnus, François-Henri Pinault actively supports the school and its development. He is a major donor to the HEC Foundation, a member of the Dean's Circle, and an amphitheater on campus bears his name (in Building S, which he inaugurated in 2012).

François-Henri Pinault biography

François-Henri Pinault joined the Pinault group in 1987. He held senior positions in several of the Group’s operating subsidiaries before becoming an Executive Board member. In 2000, he was appointed Deputy CEO of PPR (which became Kering), responsible for the Group’s digital strategy. Three years later, he was named Chairman of Artemis, Kering's controlling shareholder.

In 2005, he was appointed Chairman and CEO of Kering, which he gradually transformed into a global Luxury group. He has developed Kering into a pioneer in sustainability with a deep commitment to women – two causes that are particularly close to his heart. He also chairs the Kering Foundation, founded in 2008 to combat violence against women.

His vision of modern, authentic and responsible Luxury is at the heart of Kering's success and its ambition to be the world’s most influential Luxury group in terms of creativity, sustainability and long-term economic performance.

A French national, François-Henri Pinault is a graduate of the HEC business school.