Frédéric Oudéa

French businessmann (born 1963)

Frédéric Oudéa
Oudéa in 2021
Born	(1963-07-03) 3 July 1963 (age 60) Paris, France^[1]
Education	Lycée Louis-le-Grand
Alma mater	École polytechnique École nationale d'administration
Occupation	CEO Société Générale
Spouse	Amélie Castéra
Children	5

Frédéric Oudéa (born 3 July 1963) is a French businessmann who was CEO of Société Générale^[2]^[3] and as president of the European Banking Federation.^[4]

Early life

Oudéa grew up in Paris. His father Paul was a medical professor who died when Frederic was 13. After this, Oudéa reportedly took care of his two younger brothers. Though he originally planned to be a surgeon, as his fore-bearers were all doctors, he opted instead to attend the Lycee Louis-Le-Grand to study engineering. He then went to the École polytechnique, followed by the École nationale d'administration. During his stint there, he backpacked through Canada, Nepal, and Burma with Stéphane Richard.^[5]

Career

Career in the public sector

After his education at École polytechnique and École nationale d'administration^[6] in France, Oudéa worked in the economic sector of the French civil service from 1987 until 1995. His roles during this period included Technical Adviser in the office of Nicolas Sarkozy, and Minister of Budget and Communication in 1993.^[7] He also worked in other government offices, including the audit department of the ministry of finance, the ministry of economy and finance, the budget ministry, and the cabinet of the ministry of treasury and communication. According to one report, the highlight of his career in the service was his time in 1993 with Sarkozy.^[8]

Career at Société Générale

Oudéa joined Société Générale in 1995 after being recruited by then-CEO Daniel Bouton, and has worked in various positions within the bank since that time, in both Paris and London. His first role was as deputy head of the bank's corporate banking division in London, where he later became head. In 1998, he was appointed to head the group's global supervisory arm, and was in charge of development of the equities division.^[8] He then served as deputy CFO and CFO of the bank from 2002 until May 2008, when he took up his current position of CEO.^[1]^[9]^[10]

In November 2014, Oudéa was elected as the president of the European Banking Federation for a two-year term, effective 1 January 2015, succeeding Christian Clausen, president and CEO of Nordea Bank, who had served two years consecutively in the role.^[4]

During his first years in office, Oudéa came under pressure from investors and analysts due to the bank's poor performance.^[11] In 2019, the bank announced a cost reduction plan, which included cutting 1,600 jobs. That same year, Société Générale shareholders voted to give Oudéa another four-year term.^[12] In May 2022, Oudéa announced that he would not be seeking renewal after his term in office comes to an end in 2023.^[13]

Other activities

Corporate boards

Sanofi, Non-Executive Chair of the Board of Directors (since 2022)^[14]
Capgemini, Independent Member of the Board of Directors (since 2018)^[15]

Non-profit organizations

Institute of International Finance (IIF), Chairman of the Steering Committee on Regulatory Capital (since 2010)

References

^ ^a ^b Quiet man slips into SocGen top job Archived 4 January 2013 at archive.today April 2008, Reuters
^ "Frédéric Oudea". Bloomberg Link. Archived from the original on 3 December 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
^ Ulrike Mayrhofer Management of Multinational Companies: A French Perspective – 2012 "He had to step down and give up his function as a general manager, to remain 'only' President of the Board, Frédéric Oudéa, becoming General Manager and taking over the operational management of Société Generale."
^ ^a ^b "Société Générale : Frédéric Oudéa est élu Président de la Fédération bancaire européenne". Boursier.com. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
^ "How Frédéric Oudéa Came To Oversee One of France's Largest Banks". Business Insider. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^ Prosser, David (4 November 2010). "The business on: Frederic Oudea, Chief executive, Société Générale". The Independent. London. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
^ The CV of Frederick Oudéa Challenges.fr (Google translate)
^ ^a ^b "Frédéric Oudéa". EuropeanCEO.com. 13 January 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^ Frederic Oudea Bloomberg profile
^ UPDATE 1-SocGen promotes CFO Oudea to post of deputy CEO 17 March 2008 Reuters India
^ Matthieu Protard (11 April 2019), France's Caisse des Depots will vote to renew SocGen's Oudea Reuters.
^ Inti Landauro (21 May 2019), SocGen shareholders renew CEO Oudea for four-year board term Reuters.
^ Owen Walker and Sarah White (17 May 2022), SocGen chief Frédéric Oudéa to step down after 15-year tenure Financial Times.
^ Dominique Vidalon (5 September 2022), Frederic Oudea to become Sanofi's non-executive chairman Reuters.
^ Board of Directors Capgemini.