Gilles Auffret

About Gilles Auffret

Gilles Auffret is a well-known French corporate governance professional, with a career spanning senior public-sector roles, industrial leadership, and listed-company board oversight. At Elior Group, he served as Senior Independent Director and reference director, playing a central role in board coordination, the balance of powers within the boardroom, and the relationship between independent directors, management, and shareholders. He left Elior Group’s board in 2024 after several years of service. His career began in the French civil service, where he worked as an auditor at the Cour des comptes and later as a project manager at the Ministry of Industry. He then moved into top executive roles in major industrial groups. From 1982 to 1999, he held a range of senior positions at Pechiney, eventually becoming Chief Executive Officer of Aluminium Pechiney. He later joined the Solvay Rhodia group, where from 1999 to 2013 he held multiple high-level responsibilities, including Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Rhodia, while also serving on the executive committees of Rhodia and Solvay. In parallel, he has held board and advisory roles in other companies, including Chairman of Terreal’s board and member of the advisory committee of Azulis. This background gives him broad expertise in industrial strategy, large-scale operational management, transformation, and listed-company governance. At Elior, he contributed to the company’s governance evolution, including the separation of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer roles, and helped structure board deliberations during a period marked by strategic and shareholder changes. His profile combines public-sector rigor, industrial experience, and strong governance credentials.