Maurice Lévy

Chairman and CEO

Publicis Groupe

Maurice Lévy is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Groupe, the world’s third largest advertising and communications group. He is widely recognized as one of the leading figures in the communications industry.

Mr. Lévy joined Publicis in 1971, with a background in IT, and was named Chairman and CEO in 1987, thus becoming Publicis Groupe's second CEO since 1926. Under his stewardship the Groupe has been transformed into a global powerhouse of top creative advertising and marketing agencies, notably via the acquisition of Saatchi & Saatchi in 2000 and the 2002 merger with Bcom3 (Leo Burnett, Fallon, Starcom MediaVest and a number of specialized agencies). He is also responsible for the Groupe’s pioneering strategic focus on digital and online communication, with acquisitions of Digitas in 2007, Razorfish in 2009, and Rosetta in 2011.

He is President of the Association Française des Entreprises Privées (French Association of Private Companies), which represents France’s top listed companies. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of The Council on Foreign Relations, the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum , the Supervisory Boards of Deutsche Bank and La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild, as well as of the Board of the Paris Musée des Arts Décoratifs. In 2005 he co-founded the French Institute for Brain and Spinal Cord disorders.

Mr. Lévy holds the distinctions of Commandeur of the French Légion d’Honneur and Grand Officier of the Ordre National du Mérite.