Joseph Oughourlian

About Joseph Oughourlian

Joseph Oughourlian is a Franco-Armenian investor and executive best known for his work in asset management, event-driven investing, and the governance of listed companies. He is the founder of Amber Capital, an investment firm launched in New York in 2005 and later expanded to London in 2012. Before founding Amber Capital, he began his career at Société Générale in 1994, where he moved into proprietary capital management. That early experience helped shape the investment style for which he later became widely known. Amber Capital states that he serves as its Chairman, and it also notes his leadership roles at other major organizations, including Grupo Prisa and RC Lens. In the listed-company arena, Oughourlian has built a reputation as a highly engaged shareholder with a strong focus on value creation, strategic oversight, and governance. He is closely associated with Lagardère, where he joined the Board of Directors when the company adopted new governance arrangements in June 2021 as Lagardère SCA was converted into Lagardère SA. Lagardère’s official communications later state that he resigned from the board in connection with the sale of Amber Capital’s entire stake to Vivendi SE. His involvement in that transition made him one of the notable actors in the group’s recent governance evolution. Oughourlian holds degrees from HEC Paris, Sciences Po Paris, and an MSc in Economics from the Sorbonne. This combination of business, political science, and economics gives him a broad analytical framework for complex corporate situations. He is especially experienced in transformation stories, shareholder activism, and board-level strategic debates, where financial rigor and an understanding of governance dynamics are essential. Overall, his career reflects the profile of an investor-operator with an international outlook and a long-term approach to listed-company leadership.