Christophe Chenut

Christophe Chenut, born on October 2, 1962, in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine), is a French businessman. He was CEO of the French newspaper L'Opinion from its launch in May 2013 until June 2015, before becoming CEO of the brands Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse tam.tam (Fast Retailing/Uniqlo Group) and later of the modeling agencies Elite World.

Biography

Graduated from the University of Paris-Dauphine in 1984 and with an MBA from HEC Paris (class of 1986), he began his career as editor of Création magazine (Strategies Group). In 1987, he founded the direct marketing consulting agency Directing with Xavier Romatet.

In 1993, he sold his company to the DDB Group to merge with its direct marketing subsidiary Rapp Collins. He became President of Rapp Collins France and then of Rapp Collins Europe. In 2000, he was appointed CEO of the DDB France Group. In March 2003, he left DDB to become CEO of the L'Équipe Group (L'Équipe, L'Équipe TV, lequipe.fr, France Football, Vélo Magazine, etc.).

In parallel with his professional career, he became President of Stade de Reims football club in 1996. During his term, the club progressed from CFA2 (1997-98 season) to Ligue 2 (2002). Christophe Chenut was forced to leave the club presidency in May 2004 due to an ethical conflict with his new executive functions at L'Équipe.

After five years of strong development and diversification, he left the L'Équipe Group at the end of February 2008 due to "strategic differences," according to the official press release. While digital activities experienced significant growth, the L'Équipe newspaper saw a decline in circulation in 2007 after four years of strong growth (highlighted by the 2006 Football World Cup), as did the bi-weekly France Football. The weekly Rugby Hebdo, launched in 2006, was closed after the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Christophe Chenut then became CEO of the luxury group Lacoste starting April 1, 2008. In January 2013, he left Lacoste during the company's sale following an internal family dispute within the Lacoste family.

In March 2013, he joined Nicolas Beytout's project to launch a new digital and print newspaper, which was launched in May 2013: L'Opinion, for which he was responsible for its launch and management for two and a half years.

In early 2016, after a brief period at the Fast Retailing Group (Uniqlo, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Princesse tam tam) and at the head of Elite World, he focused on consulting, entrepreneurship, and investment activities through his company Christophe Chenut Conseil SAS.

In this context, he invested in several companies, including the acquisition of the brand “Inés de La Fressange” alongside Fabrice Boé, in LAPSA (pet food), or Socceroof (indoor soccer in the United States). He is also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Hopscotch Group and a member of the Board of Directors of SMCP Group (Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot).

Regarding his involvement in football, he was an advisor to Paris Saint-Germain F.C. from 2009 to 2011. He left this position when the club was acquired by Qatar. He later became a shareholder and advisor to Evian-Thonon-Gaillard FC until early 2015, when he sold his shares along with about thirty other minority shareholders. From 2017 to 2020, he was a board member of Stade Rennes Football Club and, since January 2021, of Lille OSC.

In 2018, he authored the book Ingérables (How to Manage Talents in Business), and since March 2020, he has been President of Dauphine Alumni, the alumni association of the University of Paris-Dauphine.