Alexandre Ricard
"Remember, we sell liquids, but people are not thirsty."
— Alexandre Ricard[4]
Overview
Alexandre Ricard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 12 May 1972 Boulogne-Billancourt, France |
| Citizenship | French |
| Education | MBA in finance and entrepreneurship; MA in International Studies |
| Alma mater | ESCP Europe; Wharton School; University of Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Employer | Pernod Ricard |
| Known for | Leadership of Pernod Ricard |
| Title | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer |
| Term | 2015–present |
| Predecessor | Pierre Pringuet |
| Board member of | Pernod Ricard; L'Oréal; BIC |
| Spouse | Gabrielle de La Fouchardière |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | https://www.pernod-ricard.com |
📊 Alexandre Ricard (born 12 May 1972) is a French businessman who has served as chairman and chief executive officer of Pernod Ricard since 11 February 2015, becoming the third generation of the Ricard family to lead the spirits group founded by his grandfather Paul Ricard.[5][6] He was the youngest chief executive in the CAC 40 at the time of his appointment and has since pursued a strategy centred on premiumisation of the portfolio, targeted acquisitions, cost discipline and long-term sustainability commitments for the group.[6]
Early life and education
🧬 Family background. Ricard was born in Boulogne-Billancourt in 1972 into the family behind Ricard pastis and what would become Pernod Ricard, as the son of Bernard Ricard and grandson of founder Paul Ricard.[6][7] In 1971 Bernard, then briefly chief executive of the company, had a serious falling-out with Paul and resigned, prompting the family to move abroad, eventually settling in Andorra; as a result, Bernard largely disappeared from official company histories and was absent even from his son's 2015 ceremony as incoming group chief.[7]
🏝️ Early exposure to the spirits business. Although his immediate family lived away from the group’s Marseille and Paris bases, Ricard spent summers with his uncle Patrick Ricard, long-time head of Pernod Ricard, on the family island of Bendor off the French Riviera, where he observed the business from a distance and renewed ties with the wider clan.[6] Relatives recall that by the age of twelve he would put on a suit and accompany his grandfather on distributor visits, behaviour that reinforced the sense that he saw himself as a future successor despite his father's estrangement from the company.[7]
🎓 Studies and early career abroad. Ricard attended ESCP Business School in Paris, graduating in 1995, before undertaking a dual programme at the University of Pennsylvania and earning an MBA in finance and entrepreneurship from the Wharton School alongside an MA in International Studies, qualifications that contributed to a cosmopolitan outlook and fluency in several languages.[5][6] Before joining the family group he chose to gain external experience, working in corporate finance at Banque Indosuez in Milan, in management consulting at Accenture in London and in mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley, building credibility outside the Ricard orbit.[6]
Career
💼 Entry into Pernod Ricard. In 2003, at the age of 31, Ricard accepted what he later described as a “now or never” invitation from his uncle Patrick to join Pernod Ricard, starting in the group’s Audit and Business Development department at headquarters, where he learned the company’s finances and portfolio structure in detail.[8][6] The move marked a deliberate pivot from his external banking and consulting career to a path that would combine family legacy with professional management.
🌏 Asia duty-free responsibilities. After an initial spell at headquarters, Ricard became chief financial officer of Irish Distillers in late 2004, gaining operational exposure to the fast-growing Jameson brand, before being promoted in 2006 to managing director of Pernod Ricard Asia Duty Free, based in Hong Kong.[5][6] In that post he developed the group’s travel-retail activities across airports in China, South Korea and Southeast Asia, working on supply chains, marketing and pricing aimed at newly affluent travellers using duty-free channels.[6]
🥃 Irish Distillers and brand expansion. In July 2008 Ricard returned to Dublin as chairman and chief executive of Irish Distillers, where he oversaw a period of strong growth for Jameson as the global market for Irish whiskey expanded and the brand deepened its penetration in markets such as the United States.[8][6] His tenure coincided with Pernod Ricard’s acquisition of Vin & Sprit, the owner of Absolut Vodka, and he played a role in integrating Absolut into the wider group network while managing organic growth at Irish Distillers.[6]
🏢 Group distribution leadership. In 2011 Ricard moved back to the Paris headquarters as managing director of the group’s distribution network, taking charge of Pernod Ricard’s global route-to-market strategy and logistics for brands ranging from Martell cognac to Chivas Regal Scotch whisky.[5][6] The role required streamlining operations, harmonising structures built through successive acquisitions and improving margins at a time of volatile commodity costs and uneven demand across regions.[6]
⚓ Succession planning and bereavement. When Patrick Ricard died suddenly of a heart attack in August 2012, the group accelerated long-standing succession plans, appointing Alexandre as deputy chief executive officer and chief operating officer while non-family executive Pierre Pringuet remained chief executive.[8][7] Over the next two years Alexandre worked closely with Pringuet, deepening his involvement in day-to-day management and helping reassure investors that the handover from one generation of family leadership to another would be orderly rather than abrupt.[8][6]
👔 Becoming chairman and CEO. On 11 February 2015 Ricard was formally appointed chairman and chief executive officer of Pernod Ricard, completing a third-generation transfer of control and, at the time, making him the youngest chief executive of any CAC 40 company.[5][6] His elevation also carried symbolic weight inside the family: forty-four years after his father’s short and turbulent stint at the top, a Ricard once again held the dual leadership role, this time with a stronger emphasis on collaborative governance and professionalised management structures.[7][6]
Business strategy and leadership
🥇 Premiumisation and portfolio shaping. As chief executive, Ricard has emphasised “premiumisation”, favouring higher-margin spirits over pure volume growth and showing a willingness to prune or sell slower-growth assets such as certain wine holdings in order to focus resources on core brands.[6] Under his leadership Pernod Ricard has pursued targeted acquisitions in fast-growing segments, including a majority stake in ultra-premium tequila producer Código 1530 in 2022 and a 90% stake in Canadian ready-to-drink cocktail company Ace Beverage Group in 2023, reflecting a strategy of capturing younger consumers through trend-sensitive categories rather than through large-scale mergers.[6]
🚀 Innovation and new categories. Ricard has also supported investments in low- and no-alcohol products and new consumption occasions, exemplified by a 2023 collaboration with Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton on a premium non-alcoholic spirit, while internally launching multi-year plans such as “Transform and Accelerate” to push digitalisation, data use and faster decision-making.[6] In the key United States market he has reorganised the business around dedicated teams for ready-to-drink beverages and emerging craft brands, aiming to rejuvenate growth after a period of post-pandemic softness.[6]
📈 Financial performance and market cycles. Between Ricard’s appointment in 2015 and the early 2020s, Pernod Ricard’s annual revenues grew from about €8.6 billion to nearly €11 billion, supported by expansion in China, India and the United States and by a broadly favourable spirits cycle, while the company maintained its position as the world’s second-largest international spirits group behind Diageo.[6] In the 2024–2025 financial year the group reported a modest organic sales decline of around 3% to €10.96 billion amid weaker demand in China and the United States and a sluggish travel-retail market, prompting Ricard to forecast a gradual rebound and to back cost-saving and restructuring efforts designed to restore medium-term growth of 3–6% a year.[6]
🌱 Sustainability agenda. Ricard has tied Pernod Ricard’s long-term strategy to environmental and social targets under the “Good Times from a Good Place” programme, which includes commitments to source 100% renewable electricity by 2025, reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 and support regenerative agriculture for key ingredients such as grapes and agave.[6] He has argued that preserving terroir and natural resources is essential to the survival of the company’s brands over generations, positioning sustainability not only as a reputational concern but also as a core business risk and opportunity.[6]
Financials and wealth
💰 Executive compensation. Ricard’s compensation as chairman and chief executive places him among the better-paid corporate leaders in France, though at levels generally below typical packages for large U.S. consumer-goods chiefs.[9] For the 2022 financial year his total remuneration was reported at about €2.9 million, combining a fixed salary of around €1.2 million, unchanged since 2018, with annual and long-term variable pay tied to profit and sales targets.[9] Annual bonuses can reach up to 180% of base salary in the event of strong overperformance, while share-based incentives are capped at roughly 150% of base salary and vest over several years, linking his pay to Pernod Ricard’s stock-market performance.[9]
🧮 Family shareholding and fortune. Beyond salary, Ricard’s wealth is closely tied to his role as a member of the founding family, which collectively owns about 14% of Pernod Ricard’s share capital and more than 20% of its voting rights through the holding company Société Paul Ricard and loyalty voting provisions.[8][6] French business magazine Challenges has estimated the Ricard family fortune at roughly €7.35 billion, placing it among the country’s twenty largest, while Ricard himself is reported to hold a personal stake in Pernod Ricard shares worth on the order of several tens of millions of euros.[9][10]
🤝 Board roles and influence. Ricard has broadened his influence beyond the spirits sector by joining the boards of other major consumer companies: he became a director of L'Oréal in 2021 and in 2025 joined the board of BIC, the French maker of pens, lighters and razors.[6] Within Pernod Ricard he also chairs the Pernod Ricard Foundation, overseeing budgets for contemporary art patronage and cultural projects, which further embeds him in France’s corporate and philanthropic networks.[6]
Personal life
👨👩👧👦 Family life. Ricard is married to Gabrielle de La Fouchardière, with whom he has three children born in the late 2010s and early 2020s, and he has generally kept his family out of the spotlight, with public appearances together mostly limited to cultural or charity events rather than high-profile social occasions.[6] He has spoken about the importance of preserving time for shared meals and family rituals despite frequent travel, citing these routines as a way of maintaining balance while carrying the dual responsibilities of chief executive and family representative.[6][7]
🏃♂️ Personality and leisure interests. Colleagues and friends describe Ricard as affable and disciplined, combining an enthusiasm for convivial hosting with a preference for informal gatherings over ostentatious displays, and he often spends part of the summer on the family-owned Mediterranean islands of Bendor and Embiez, where the extended Ricard clan meets each year.[7][6] He is an avid runner, known to train even in harsh climates such as the heat of Dubai, and enjoys travel to key markets such as India and hubs like Monaco, where interests in motorsport and yachting overlap with the social and business worlds in which Pernod Ricard operates.[6] Inside the company he promotes a first-name, approachable culture, occasionally marking milestones with toasts alongside employees and supporting work–life-balance initiatives that aim to make a demanding global business compatible with staff well-being.[6]
Philanthropy and corporate responsibility
🎨 Support for contemporary art. As president of the Pernod Ricard Foundation (formerly the Ricard Foundation), Ricard oversees one of France’s better-known corporate programmes supporting contemporary art, including an annual prize for emerging artists under forty and exhibitions staged in partnership with major institutions such as the Centre Pompidou.[6] Under his leadership the foundation was rebranded in 2020 to carry the group’s name, signalling the integration of cultural patronage into Pernod Ricard’s broader corporate identity and brand narrative.[6]
⚕️ Responsible drinking and social initiatives. Ricard has aligned the foundation’s activities with broad sustainability and community goals by backing environmentally themed art projects and local initiatives in regions where Pernod Ricard sources ingredients, and he has also lent his voice to campaigns on responsible drinking and moderation.[6][9] Under his tenure the group has increased investment in education around alcohol abuse, partnering with non-governmental organisations on anti-drink-driving and youth-awareness initiatives, which he presents as a necessary complement to promoting conviviality through the company’s brands.[9]
Controversies and challenges
⚖️ Questions of nepotism and family control. Ricard’s path to the top of Pernod Ricard, as a grandson of the founder and nephew of his long-serving predecessor, inevitably raised questions about nepotism and the balance between family continuity and meritocracy.[7] Some investors initially wondered whether the board was prioritising lineage over experience, but advocates pointed to his years in operational roles and the decision to keep Pierre Pringuet as chief executive for nearly three years after Patrick Ricard’s death as evidence of a measured, staged succession rather than an automatic inheritance.[8][6] Within the extended Ricard clan, Alexandre has tried to avoid the tensions that marked earlier generations by emphasising that “the group’s interests come first” and by keeping regular, informal contact with relatives to maintain unity among the five family branches that together hold only a minority of the capital.[7]
📉 Engagement with activist investors. One of the most visible tests of Ricard’s leadership came in late 2018, when activist hedge fund Elliott Management disclosed a stake in Pernod Ricard and argued that the company’s margins lagged those of rival Diageo, urging deeper cost cuts, portfolio rationalisation and governance changes. In early 2019 Ricard responded by unveiling a three-year plan that targeted annual operating-margin improvement of 50–60 basis points, identified around €100 million in immediate cost savings and introduced new governance features such as a lead independent director, Patricia Barbizet, while insisting that the company would stay focused on long-term brand building rather than short-term restructuring for its own sake.[6] Elliott later exited its position, and observers generally saw the episode as demonstrating Ricard’s willingness to adjust course in response to shareholder pressure without fundamentally changing the group’s strategic trajectory.[6]
🧨 Russian market controversy. Another major challenge emerged in 2023 over Pernod Ricard’s presence in Russia following that country’s invasion of Ukraine: after initially suspending exports, the group quietly resumed shipments of brands such as Jameson and Beefeater to its Russian subsidiary, citing the need to support local staff and operations.[11] When this became public, consumer groups and politicians in countries including Ireland and Sweden organised protests and called for boycotts, accusing the company of placing profits above principles; within weeks Ricard’s management reversed course, announced a halt to exports of international brands and later committed to withdrawing from Russia entirely.[11][12]
🏛️ Governance debates. Ricard’s pay and the family’s voting power have also attracted scrutiny from corporate-governance observers. Advisory firm Proxinvest notably recommended that shareholders oppose a proposed 16% increase in his fixed salary in 2018, arguing that the raise was out of step with modest inflation and slower wage growth for employees and that a chief executive with a substantial family shareholding should show particular restraint.[13] Despite some investor dissent, the double voting rights attached to long-held family shares help ensure that resolutions on Ricard’s combined chairman–chief-executive role and remuneration have passed comfortably, even as critics warn of the risk of excessive convergence between ownership and management.[13][6]
🔧 Long-term strategic challenges. Looking ahead, Ricard faces a combination of industry headwinds and internal priorities: shifting consumer preferences toward craft spirits and moderation, trade tensions and tariffs affecting key markets such as China and the United States, and the need to preserve cohesion among dozens of family shareholders so that the group remains resistant to hostile takeovers.[6][7] He has sought to engage younger family members through internships, seasonal work on the family islands and regular briefings on the company’s mission, arguing that a sense of shared custodianship is essential to avoid the internal conflicts that once destabilised the Ricard name.[6][7]
Legacy and outlook
🔮 Legacy and future outlook. Commentators generally characterise Ricard as combining the symbolic weight of being Paul Ricard’s grandson with the profile of a global MBA-trained manager, and many early doubts about his youth or family connection have diminished as the group has expanded under his tenure and navigated crises ranging from activist pressure to geopolitical controversy.[6] He has described himself not simply as an heir but as a “transmitter” charged with handing Pernod Ricard to the next generation in stronger condition, a long-term perspective that echoes his grandfather’s emphasis on stewardship while adapting it to twenty-first-century expectations around sustainability, governance and social responsibility.[6][7]
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References
- ↑ "Pernod Ricard's Grain-to-Glass Sustainability Strategy". Food and Drink Digital. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ "Pernod Ricard launches first global corporate campaign". Drinks International. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ "Pernod Ricard promotes global conviviality in global campaign". Bar Magazine. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ "Pernod Ricard partners with Eranos to place conviviality at the heart of its value proposition". Eranos. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "Alexandre Ricard – Chairman & Chief Executive Officer". Pernod Ricard. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 6.23 6.24 6.25 6.26 6.27 6.28 6.29 6.30 6.31 6.32 6.33 6.34 6.35 6.36 6.37 6.38 6.39 6.40 6.41 6.42 "Alexandre Ricard". Grokipedia. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 "At Pernod Ricard, "the group's interests come first"". Le Monde. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 "Pastis king's death to speed up Pernod succession". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 "Quel est le salaire de Alexandre Ricard, patron de Pernod Ricard ?". Nadoz. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ "Why We Think Pernod Ricard SA's (EPA:RI) CEO Compensation Is ..." Webull. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Exports of Jameson to Russia to be halted following backlash". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ "#LeaveRussia: Pernod Ricard is Exiting the Russian Market". Leave-Russia.org. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Pernod Ricard – "NON" à la hausse de 16% de la rémunération d'Alexandre Ricard". Proxinvest. Retrieved 2025-11-20.