Philippe Delorme

Overview

Philippe Delorme
Born	1971 (age 54–55) France
Citizenship	France
Education	Master's degree in engineering
Alma mater	École Centrale Paris; Sciences Po (MBA in International Business)
Occupation	Business executive
Employer	KONE Corporation
Known for	President and CEO of KONE; former executive at Schneider Electric
Title	President and CEO
Term	2024–present
Predecessor	Henrik Ehrnrooth
Board member of	Minalogic

👤 Philippe Delorme (born 1971) is a French business executive who has served as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of KONE Corporation, a Finnish elevator and escalator company, since January 1, 2024. He previously spent more than twenty-five years at Schneider Electric, where he held senior leadership positions including chief strategy and technology officer, head of the Energy Management division, and executive vice president for Europe operations. Educated in both engineering and business, he has become associated with the application of digital technologies and sustainability principles to large-scale infrastructure and has participated in international forums on energy efficiency and smart cities.

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Early life and education

🎓 French upbringing and dual training. Philippe Delorme was born in 1971 and grew up in France, where he developed an early interest in technology and problem solving. He studied engineering at École Centrale Paris, earning a master's degree, and later completed a Master of Business Administration in international business at Sciences Po in Paris. This combination of technical and business education gave him a broad perspective on industrial innovation and global markets that would later shape his management approach.

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Career

💼 Joining Schneider Electric. After graduating, Delorme joined Schneider Electric, the French energy management and industrial automation company, in 1996, beginning what would become a career of nearly three decades with the group. In his early years he held managerial roles in France and the United States, working across operations, marketing, and sales and building a reputation for combining technical competence with commercial acumen. Colleagues and profiles have emphasized his willingness to take on demanding international assignments, reflecting an early global outlook and comfort with cross-border projects.

🧠 Strategy and technology leadership. In 2009, at age thirty-eight, Delorme was appointed Schneider Electric's chief strategy and technology officer and joined the company's executive committee, making him one of its younger members at that level. In this role he helped steer corporate strategy and oversaw innovation initiatives during a period marked by accelerating digitalization and the expansion of smart energy solutions. Around the same time he broadened his external responsibilities by becoming president of Minalogic, a technology cluster based in Grenoble that supports research and development in microelectronics and digital technologies, further connecting Schneider Electric to regional innovation ecosystems. The dual focus on internal transformation and ecosystem-building reinforced his profile as a specialist in technology-led industrial change.

🌍 Global business responsibilities. Over the following decade Delorme led several of Schneider Electric's global businesses, including the Building & IT and Energy Management divisions, positions that required extensive time in Asia and other growth markets. Based in Hong Kong for part of this period, he oversaw the deployment of smart building systems and digital energy management solutions across rapidly urbanizing regions. In 2018 he became executive vice president for Energy Management, and in February 2022 he was appointed executive vice president for Europe operations, returning to France to lead Schneider Electric's activities across the European market. Throughout these assignments he was frequently associated with Schneider Electric's positioning as a leader in energy efficiency and climate-related technologies, regularly speaking about electrification and digital control as levers for reducing emissions.

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Leadership at KONE

🏗️ Appointment to KONE. In late 2023 KONE Corporation announced that Delorme would become its new president and CEO, succeeding Henrik Ehrnrooth as of January 1, 2024. The selection of a French executive to lead the Finnish-based elevator and escalator group underscored the company's increasingly international orientation and followed a period in which KONE had expanded its presence in Asia and other global markets. Financial analysts broadly welcomed the appointment; contemporary coverage characterized it as a strong match between Delorme's background in industrial technology and KONE's ambition to combine equipment, digital services, and sustainability-focused solutions.

🚀 Early priorities and strategic focus. Upon taking office, Delorme emphasized continuity in KONE's long-term direction while signaling sharper focus on digital services and sustainability, themes that had characterized his prior work at Schneider Electric. He framed the company as a potential "city shaper" rather than a pure equipment manufacturer, arguing that elevators and escalators, combined with data and services, could help address challenges such as urban congestion, accessibility, and energy use. In public statements he underlined the need for faster decision-making and a simpler organizational structure, initiatives aimed at increasing KONE's agility in markets marked by cyclical construction demand and rapid technological change.

🌱 “Rise 2025–2030” strategy. In September 2024 Delorme and KONE unveiled an updated long-term strategy labeled "Rise 2025–2030," positioning the company as a partner in shaping the future of cities. The plan outlined four principal shifts: accelerating growth in digital services and smart maintenance, expanding modernization of aging building stock, increasing penetration in the residential segment, and further reducing the carbon footprint of KONE's operations and products. Early financial indicators suggested steady progress; by the mid-2020s KONE reported modest year-on-year sales growth and improving operating margins despite headwinds in China, while order intake remained resilient.

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Financials and wealth

💶 Executive compensation at KONE. As president and CEO of KONE, Delorme receives a compensation package typical of senior leaders of large publicly traded industrial companies. In his first year in the role, his total remuneration was reported at approximately €1.03 million, including a base salary of around €819,000 and standard benefits and pension contributions, with no annual bonus or share-based incentive yet vested for that period. To align his interests with those of shareholders, he was granted a long-term incentive plan that could deliver up to 85,247 KONE shares if specified performance targets are met. This structure places a significant portion of his potential future earnings in equity-based rewards dependent on multi-year results rather than short-term metrics.

🏛️ Industry roles and external activities. Beyond his executive duties, Delorme has engaged in sector-wide initiatives through industry associations and advisory bodies. While at Schneider Electric he chaired Minalogic, contributing to regional innovation policy and collaboration among firms, research institutes, and public authorities in the Grenoble area. He has participated in World Economic Forum and Orgalim platforms on energy efficiency and smart infrastructure, helping to articulate the role of electrification and digital technologies in the transition to a low-carbon economy. At KONE he has, as of the mid-2020s, not taken on a large number of outside corporate board mandates, a choice interpreted as reflecting his focus on leading the company through a period of strategic change.

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Personal life

🏡 Family life and residences. Delorme maintains a relatively private family life despite his public role. He has been based primarily in Paris for much of his career, and after becoming CEO of KONE he began splitting his time between the French capital and Helsinki, where the company is headquartered. Public profiles describe him as married with children, though he rarely discusses his family in media interviews, preferring to keep their personal details out of the spotlight.

⛵ Interests and leadership metaphors. Sailing is among Delorme's longstanding personal interests, and he has drawn parallels between navigating at sea and leading complex organizations, emphasizing teamwork, preparation, and the ability to adjust course when conditions change. He is also reported to enjoy skiing and endurance sports, interests he has linked to the resilience and discipline required in senior management roles. Commentators have often described his manner as energetic yet approachable, highlighting his ease in multilingual, multicultural settings and his interest in a broad range of topics beyond business, from politics to sports.

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Navigating culture and challenges

🤝 Managing cross-cultural leadership. As a French executive leading a historically Finnish company, Delorme has spoken openly about the cultural adjustments involved in his role at KONE. In interviews he has contrasted the consensus-oriented, measured decision-making style he associates with Finnish business culture with the more direct approach he experienced in France, suggesting that a balance of deliberation and speed is desirable. He has taken Finnish language lessons and participated in local traditions while encouraging a "growth mindset" internally, signaling that calculated risk-taking and learning from mistakes are acceptable as the company pursues innovation.

🌐 ESG, geopolitics, and operational headwinds. Delorme's tenure has coincided with ongoing scrutiny of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance in global capital markets and with geopolitical tensions affecting supply chains. Under his leadership KONE has reiterated its climate commitments, including targets for emissions reductions across operations and products and continued recognition on external sustainability rankings such as the CDP Climate "A List". He has also overseen the company's response to geopolitical developments, including KONE's exit from the Russian market in 2023 and efforts to mitigate related commercial and operational impacts. Analysts who have commented on his performance have generally focused on financial metrics—such as profitability and order growth—rather than on controversies, and as of the mid-2020s no major governance scandals have been associated with his leadership.

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Legacy and outlook

📈 Position in industrial leadership. Although Delorme's tenure at KONE is still at a relatively early stage, commentators have highlighted how his background in smart energy systems, digital technology, and sustainability aligns with the evolving demands on urban infrastructure providers. His career path—from engineering studies in Paris through global executive roles at Schneider Electric to the leadership of a Finnish industrial company—illustrates the growing prevalence of internationally mobile executives in European industry and the convergence of energy, buildings, and mobility sectors.

🔭 Future challenges and potential legacy. Looking ahead, assessments of Delorme's legacy are expected to focus on whether KONE can successfully expand beyond its traditional equipment base into higher-value services while maintaining profitability and competitive strength in key markets such as China and Europe. His ambition to position the company as a partner in creating more sustainable, accessible, and livable cities has been articulated in speeches and public communications, where he has framed KONE's mission as "shaping the future of cities" and has spoken of building the company for the coming decades rather than for single quarters. As strategic initiatives under the "Rise 2025–2030" plan unfold, observers will continue to evaluate how effectively Delorme balances growth, innovation, and sustainability priorities in a sector undergoing rapid technological and societal change.

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