As much as one is “bling-bling” and lover of ostentation, the other is modest and not really known for his antics. Chosen by Renault’s nominating committee to replace Carlos Ghosn as president of Losange, Jean-Dominique Senard has little in common with his predecessor. “It’s someone who will pay for his subway ticket! “Says an industry executive.
Extreme courtesy
His reputation as a humanist manager precedes him at Renault. “He’s a big industrialist. He has a social conception of the company and he has demonstrated it many times, ” commented the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Mayor, last week. Born of the pontifical nobility and count of his state, the current president of Michelin is distinguished by an extreme courtesy – which he shows in all circumstances, it is said. It is also considered perfectly “compatible Bolloré”, an essential asset to oversee the new CEO of Renault himself former Michelin. The two men already know each other. “They have the same Catholic networks,” says a source in Losange.
He joined Michelin in 2005 as CFO and took the lead in 2011, becoming Bibendum’s first non-family member. This graduate of HEC, holder of a Master of Law, had made his weapons at Total, Saint-Gobain and Pechiney. He is happy to have lived through hell during the merger between Pechiney and Alcan, when he had to separate from hundreds of employees. “I measured what some short-term decisions could cause as damage,” he said at the “Echos”.
Rigorous manager
Broken to the management of multinationals, this son of ambassador, himself a father of three children, is deeply attached to France, and does not hesitate to give his time for the collective interest. Eliminated for a question of age he narrowly missed the Medef presidency last year. He wrote in the spring with Nicole Notat a report on how to integrate the social and the environment in companies .
His slender silhouette and his English gentleman look are familiar to the business world of the Hexagon. Witness, the skewer of great bosses he managed to attract to Montreal last June, for the “Mobility Davos” that Michelin is trying to install .
Rigorous manager, he also knows, when necessary, to be firm. He has not hesitated in recent years to adapt the industrial tool of Michelin in France. But it did so smoothly, thanks to a social dialogue welcomed by most social partners. Approaching the 66 years (which he will celebrate on March 7), he also had carefully prepared his estate for his departure from Michelin, scheduled for next May. It will not be so finally to go to take care of his vines in the family property of Lagoy, near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.