French citizen
Date of birth: 26 April 1964

Arnaud de Puyfontaine is a graduate of ESCP Business School (1988), Institut Multimédias (1992) and Harvard Business School (2000). He started his career as a consultant at Arthur Andersen and then in 1989 worked as a project manager at Rhône-Poulenc Pharma in Indonesia. In 1990, he joined Le Figaro as Executive Director. In 1995, as a member of the founding team of the Emap Group in France, he headed Télé Poche and Studio Magazine, managed the acquisition of Télé Star and Télé Star Jeux, and launched the Emap Star Division, before becoming Chief Executive Officer of Emap France in 1998. In 1999, he was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Emap France, and, in 2000, joined the Executive Board of Emap PLC. He led several M&A deals, and concomitantly, from 2000 to 2005, served as Chairman of EMW, the Emap/Wanadoo digital subsidiary. In August 2006, he was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Editions Mondadori France. In June 2007, he became General Manager of all digital business for the Mondadori group.

In April 2009, Arnaud de Puyfontaine joined US media group Hearst as Chief Executive Officer of its UK subsidiary, Hearst UK. In 2011, on behalf of the Hearst group, he led the acquisition from the Lagardère group of 102 international magazine titles, and in June 2011, was appointed Executive Vice President of Hearst Magazines International. In August 2013, he was appointed Managing Director for Western Europe. He has also been Chairman of ESCP Europe Alumni. From January to June 2014, Arnaud de Puyfontaine was a member of the Vivendi Management Board and Senior Executive Vice President in charge of its media and content operations. Since 24 June 2014, he has been Chairman of the Management Board of Vivendi.

As part of the partial demerger of Vivendi SE, Arnaud de Puyfontaine was appointed as a member of the Supervisory Board of Canal+, Chairman of the Board of Directors (voorzitter) of Havas NV, and a director of Louis Hachette Group – a company listed on the Euronext Growth market since 16 December 2024 and which combines the activities of the Lagardère group and Prisma Media.

Arnaud de Puyfontaine is Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur and an Officer of the British Empire (OBE).

Directorships and other positions held in other companies:

In France:

• Chairman of the Management Board, Vivendi (listed company)
• Director, Lagardère SA (listed company)
• Member of the Supervisory Board, Canal+ (listed company)
• Chairman of the Board of Directors, Prisma Media
• Chairman of the Board of Directors, Gameloft SE
• Member of the Board of Directors, Dailymotion
• Member of the Advisory Committee, Innit
• Honorary Chairman, French-American Foundation

Outside France:

• Chairman of the Board of Directors, Havas SA (Netherlands) (listed company)