Jean-Paul Agon is the CEO of the French cosmetics giant L’Oréal. All eyes in the global beauty world are trained on Agon, a L’Oréal lifer, who is charting a path to take the company to new heights through strategic acquisitions and expansion into emerging markets such as China, India, Russia, Brazil and Mexico.

Born in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, Agon graduated from HEC Business School (Hautes Etudes Commerciales) in 1978. He joined L’Oréal right out of school in sales, then marketing; three years later, he was tasked with turning around the money-losing subsidiary in Greece. Agon was just 25 years old at the time. He rapidly rose through the ranks, heading up L’Oréal Paris, then L’Oréal Germany before he established the company’s operations in Asia. Agon took over the group’s largest subsidiary, L’Oréal USA, in 2001 as president and CEO.

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He moved into his current role in 2006 after being groomed by his predecessor, Lindsay Owen-Jones, who is chairman. In 2007, Agon was awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, France’s most prestigious award.