Some board members objected when Jean-Pascal Tricoire was appointed chief executive of French industrial giant Schneider Electric.
In the exciting world of French business, the engineer, who grew up in the village of Beaupréau in the west of France and has spent much of Schneider’s career in foreign postings from China to South Africa, is something out of place.
Without the trappings of an elite Paris school, political connections and a job as a ministerial adviser to his name, his promotion to head of the automation and software group in 2006 was not approved.
This week after almost 20 years at the helm, 59-year-old, sometimes called as “Napoleon running Schneider” among investors for the reputation of the desire to control every decision, announced that he stepped aside, after the government that outlasted many. rival chief executive.
Schneider has become one of the most valuable listed companies in France, its value has increased sevenfold to almost €90 billion in the past two decades, one of the top 10 stocks on the French stock exchange behind aerospace giant Airbus and luxury goods names such as LVMH .
The appointment was mainly due to Henri Lachmann, Schneider’s former boss who took Tricoire out of semi-obscurity, after crossing paths with him on a company tour in Beijing.
“One council member said ‘we don’t know him, he’s not one of us,'” Lachmann said. “But others, with better qualifications, say ‘that’s his strength’.”
Tricoire will partially hand over operational responsibilities to Schneider’s former head of industrial automation Peter Herweck, who became chief executive in May, while he remains chairman.
Since his appointment in 2006, after three years as deputy chief executive, the group has grown exponentially overseas, adding a variety of complex industrial systems through acquisitions in the US, China and India, and earning three quarters of its sales outside Europe west. .
Founded close to 190 years ago by two brothers who brought a French iron foundry, today it also quietly specializes in complementary technologies to optimize the sudden megatrend: energy efficiency.
The system used by the company to automate the use of lights and save power has never been in demand, especially after the energy supply crisis in Europe following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Along the way, Tricoire maintained its status as an “alien” among French executives, in the words of one banker. For some, despite the praise for the group’s performance, they have pushed their move from France too far.
A fluent Mandarin speaker after a spell in China early in Schneider’s career, Tricoire moved to Hong Kong in 2011 and has lived ever since – an unusual move that ruffled feathers in the Paris establishment. Company boards now have a majority of non-French members, and executives are scattered around the world.
Over the years, his Asian expertise helped Schneider build up his Chinese presence and he also adjusted quickly, moving away from the construction sector when the housing market began to overheat, said Jefferies analyst Simon Toennessen.
“[Tricoire] taking risks in Asia that many conventional people would not do,” said Henri de Castries, the former head of the French insurance company Axa, who has known Tricoire since he became its boss. “Relations may be more complicated and tense with China today, but deep knowledge about important markets is very important.”
But this is one aspect of Tricoire’s legacy, with China accounting for about 13 percent of Schneider’s revenue, behind the US, that may be up for debate.
Some western companies are reassessing their relationship with China, after Russia’s war in Ukraine fueled fears of a wider geopolitical conflict, while trade between Washington and Beijing.
In an interview, Tricoire defended its exposure, which it now balances with investments elsewhere in Asia, and a model based on local Chinese-run businesses that suit the market’s specific technology needs.
“We have to understand that the world is still connected and especially connected to China,” Tricoire said.
During Tricoire’s tenure, Schneider is known for his management practices that are now more active, with a focus on “planet and society” that he has tried to measure performance, including linking bonuses to emissions targets.
Tricoire says growing up on a farm in France’s Vendée region has given him an appreciation for nature and the complexity of ecosystems — like his favorite pastime, kayaking through rapids. After leaving France for the first time at the age of 23, Tricoire’s spell in emerging markets crystallized focusing on the role the energy world should play, he added.
“I know that energy is the passport to a decent life. . . When you have a blackout in China, there are days when you can’t do much,” he said. “I know too, living in this megalopolis [very large cities]that our energy consumption model is not sustainable because pollution can be felt.
Tricoire divested Schneider of businesses that did not fit its energy focus, and invested in areas such as software, including the 10.6 billion pound acquisition of Aveva in the UK, which is used to run data centers or factories more efficiently.
“He was pragmatic – he didn’t want to be an evangelist or bother people [over the environment]”said Cécile Cabanis, deputy chief executive at French alternative asset manager Tikehau Capital, and a member of Schneider’s board. “[Schneider] has moved forward without making a fuss, which is rare.”
However, one challenge will be to allow his successor to lead the chamber as he remains in the latest seat until 2025 – a formula that is not uncommon in France, but less frequent by the standards of government in the UK, for example.
While calm and friendly, colleagues and analysts say Tricoire is also known as a leader in every decision at the company, and that his team knows the drill.
“When he’s the boss, he’s the boss — he’s authoritative and he doesn’t like confrontation,” Lachmann said.
“The value it creates is simply incredible,” said a person in Paris business circles who knows Tricoire. “[But] I hope he really steps down, it’s been too long since he was a chair.