Jean-Paul Agon

Jean-Paul Agon

Chairman & CEO

L’Oréal Group

Jean-Paul Agon is Chairman and CEO of L’Oréal, the world’s leading beauty company, where he has spent his entire career. Starting in sales and then transitioning to marketing, Agon was appointed head of L’Oréal Greece at only 24 years old. Nearly his entire career has been international, notably leading L’Oréal Germany and creating the L’Oréal Asia Zone. In 2001, he was named President of L’Oréal USA, the world’s largest beauty market. Through these international experiences, Agon has come to intimately understand the beauty desires of consumers throughout the world. In his 11 years as CEO, not only has the market value of the group doubled, but Agon has also spearheaded L’Oréal’s makeover in three key domains. First, he coined the concept of Univeralization – a vision of globalization without uniformization that respects local differences in desires, needs and beauty traditions. With this in mind, he has driven the group to create research and marketing hubs in every strategic market to answer the specific needs of people everywhere. Second, under Agon’s leadership, L’Oréal has undergone a digital revolution, becoming the world leader in e-commerce among beauty companies and transforming the relationship between brands and consumers. Finally, he has made L’Oréal a world champion of sustainability. L’Oréal is one of only two companies to hold the highest A rating by the Carbon Disclosure Project in the key areas of combatting climate change, creating sustainable water management, and fighting deforestation. L’Oréal was also ranked as the company with the second best ethical reputation worldwide by the Ethisphere Institute.