FRANCE. L’Oréal Chairman Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by CNBC Europe in its European Business Leaders Awards (EBLA) 2008.
The awards are conducted in partnership with the Financial Times and will be presented at a gala ceremony in London on 13 March.
Owen-Jones was chosen for the Lifetime Achievement Award by an independent panel of CEO peers which includes winners of last year’s European Business Leaders Awards, the Editor of the Financial Times, and senior European business commentators, in recognition of his long, distinguished career at L’Oréal, and for his outstanding contribution to business growth, innovation and leadership.
This is the fifth year of the EBLA awards – although only the third time that the Lifetime Achievement Award has been given – honouring those who are making a difference to business in Europe through their leadership and innovation in their industry sectors.
Previous winners include Sir John Bond from Vodafone and Heinrich von Pierer, former president and CEO of Siemens AG.
Owen-Jones has devoted his entire career to L’Oréal, having joined in 1969 as a product manager following an education at Oxford University and INSEAD. He rose through the ranks at the company, serving in executive positions in France, Belgium, Italy and the US, before returning to France in 1984 as Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vice-Chairman of the Management Committee and L’Oréal Board Member.
In 1988 he was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L’Oréal, and became Chairman of the Board in April 2006 when he handed the reigns to Jean-Paul Agon. He is also vice-president of the supervisory board of Air Liquide and serves as a board member of Sanofi-Aventis and Ferrari.
Owen-Jones commented: “It is truly a great honour to receive such an award by my own business peers. This is a personal award, but through me the distinguished panel is rewarding L’Oréal and its employees. It is their passion for excellence, their constant innovation, their commitment to developing our brands and satisfying all types of beauty throughout the world that have made the long-term success of L’Oréal.”
During his 20 years at the helm of L’Oréal, the company saw a major transition from being a French export business to become a multinational global group spread across 130 countries around the world. In just two decades, Owen-Jones launched L’Oréal subsidiaries in 22 countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia, South Africa and the Middle East. Likewise, he streamlined the company by focusing on the beauty sector and strategically acquired brands with global potential to provide a rich, diverse and complementary portfolio for consumers all over the world.
In the twenty years of Owen-Jones being the group’s Chairman and CEO, L’Oréal saw its consolidated sales multiply by eight (from €1,967 million to €15,790 million) and its net profit increase by 17 (from €104 million to €1,833 million). In 40 years, L’Oréal’s market capitalisation has been multiplied by 750 from €76.9 million in 1967 to €58 billion in 2007.
CNBC Europe will broadcast exclusive coverage of the event on 16 March 2008.
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