Claude Bébéar

Born in 1935, the son of a schoolteacher, Bébéar graduated from École Polytechnique and joined Ancienne Mutuelle in 1958 as an executive assistant. He became general manager in 1975 and chairman in 1982, transforming the regional mutual into a global insurance powerhouse through a series of audacious acquisitions. Known as the 'insurance cowboy' and 'avant-garde insurer,' Bébéar was named Manager of the Year in 1989.

Claude Bébéar is the architect of modern AXA. After joining Ancienne Mutuelle in 1958, he spent two decades learning the insurance business before seizing control during a 1974 strike that paralyzed the company. As general manager from 1975, he changed the company's name to Mutuelles Unies and began an acquisition spree that would redefine the global insurance industry. In 1982, he acquired the Drouot Group; in 1986, Présence; in 1989, Compagnie du Midi. But his masterstroke was the 1996 absorption of UAP, a company twice AXA's size, making AXA the world's second-largest insurer. Bébéar chose the name AXA in 1985 because it was internationally pronounceable, had no meaning, and was a memorable palindrome. He also founded AXA Hearts in Action (AXA Atout Coeur) in 1991, reflecting his belief that companies must contribute to society. Under his leadership from 1975 to 2000, AXA grew from 2,300 employees to a global giant with operations on every continent.