Pierre Anjolras
"We have never needed to build as much as we do today."
— Pierre Anjolras[1]
Overview
Pierre Anjolras | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 4 February 1966 Thonon-les-Bains, France |
| Citizenship | French |
| Education | Civil engineering |
| Alma mater | École Polytechnique; École nationale des ponts et chaussées (ENPC) |
| Occupation(s) | Civil engineer; business executive |
| Employer | VINCI |
| Known for | CEO of VINCI; leadership in motorway concessions and construction |
| Title | Chief Executive Officer of VINCI |
| Term | 1 May 2025 – present |
| Predecessor | Xavier Huillard |
| Board member of | VINCI (board member); Fédération nationale des travaux publics; Syndicat des entrepreneurs français internationaux; La Fabrique de la Cité |
| Spouse | Christine Anjolras |
| Children | 3 sons |
| Awards | Knight of the Légion d'honneur |
| Website | http://www.vinci.com/en/en/group/governance/board-directors/pierre-anjolras |
🌍 Pierre Anjolras (born 4 February 1966) is a French civil engineer and business executive who has served as Chief Executive Officer of VINCI, one of the world’s largest construction and concessions groups, since 1 May 2025. He previously held senior roles across the company’s motorway concessions, roadworks and construction activities, including as chief executive of ASF, chairman and chief executive officer of Eurovia and chairman of VINCI Construction, before being appointed Chief Operating Officer of VINCI in May 2024 and then chief executive officer as part of a planned leadership transition at the top of the CAC 40 group.[3][4][5]
🎓 Early training and public-sector roots. Born in the lakeside town of Thonon-les-Bains in the French Alps, Anjolras studied at the École Polytechnique and the École nationale des ponts et chaussées, qualifying as a civil engineer and joining the select group of graduates known as “X-Ponts”. He began his career in 1991 at the Loire-Atlantique public works directorate, then from 1996 to 1999 worked at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for External Relations in Brussels, gaining first-hand experience of public infrastructure policy and European-level decision-making.[6][7][8]
🏗️ Rise within VINCI. In 1999 Anjolras left public service to join VINCI as regional director of Sogea Sud-Ouest, marking a decisive move into the private sector. He was promoted in 2004 to chief operating officer of Cofiroute, one of VINCI’s motorway concession companies, and in 2007 became chief executive officer of ASF (Autoroutes du Sud de la France), placing him in charge of major toll-road networks soon after their privatisation.[3][7][4]
⚙️ Leadership of Eurovia, VINCI Construction and the group. In 2010 Anjolras joined Eurovia as deputy managing director responsible for international markets and public-private partnerships, before being appointed chairman and chief executive officer of the subsidiary and a member of the VINCI executive committee on 1 March 2014. He later became non-executive president of Eurovia and, in January 2021, chairman of VINCI Construction, then was named Chief Operating Officer of VINCI in May 2024 and chief executive officer on 1 May 2025, at a time when the group was generating more than €70 billion in annual revenue and record free cash flow.[7][9][4][8]
📊 Management style and strategic orientation. Media and industry profiles describe Anjolras as a discreet, field-oriented manager, dubbed “Monsieur Construction” inside the group for his long involvement in building and infrastructure projects. He has emphasised simplification of organisational structures, operational efficiency, decentralisation of decision-making and investment in sustainable construction and mobility, positioning VINCI to adapt to climate constraints, digitalisation and volatility in construction markets while maintaining financial discipline.[10][11][12]
Early life and education
🧭 Alpine origins. Pierre Anjolras was born in Thonon-les-Bains, a town on the shores of Lake Geneva, on 4 February 1966, far from France’s traditional political and financial centres, a background often highlighted in profiles tracing his later ascent to the leadership of a CAC 40 group.[6][11]
📚 Elite engineering schools. After excelling at school, he entered the École Polytechnique and then the École nationale des ponts et chaussées, completing a demanding civil-engineering curriculum that combines advanced mathematics, applied sciences and public-policy training; this dual pedigree as an “X-Ponts” graduate places him within a small cohort whose members frequently move between public administration and large engineering groups.[7][8]
🏛️ Public-service ethos. Accounts of his formative years stress that this education instilled in him a strong sense of public service and long-term planning for infrastructure, themes that would later recur in his speeches on the societal role of construction and on the need to rethink cities and mobility in the face of environmental pressures.[10][4]
Public-sector career
🛣️ Loire-Atlantique infrastructure directorate. From 1991 to 1996 Anjolras worked for the public works directorate of the Loire-Atlantique department, where he was involved in managing and upgrading local road and infrastructure networks, gaining practical experience of public procurement, site supervision and budgetary constraints in the early stages of his career.[7][3]
🇪🇺 European Commission experience. Between 1996 and 1999 he served at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for External Relations in Brussels, broadening his outlook through work on international programmes and external cooperation, and acquiring familiarity with the European dimension of infrastructure and development policy.[7][4]
🔀 Transition to the private sector. In 1999 Anjolras chose to leave the civil service and join VINCI, a move contemporaries describe as motivated by a desire to be closer to construction projects and operational decision-making, and which marked the beginning of a long internal career that would ultimately lead to the chief executive role.[3][10][11]
Career at VINCI
Motorway concessions and Autoroutes
🛤️ Regional director and motorway executive. On joining VINCI in 1999, Anjolras became regional director of Sogea Sud-Ouest, a construction subsidiary active in civil works in south-western France, before being promoted in 2004 to chief operating officer of Cofiroute, responsible for the operation of toll motorways, and in 2007 to chief executive officer of ASF, one of the largest motorway concession companies in France.[3][7][4]
📈 Integration of concession networks. As head of ASF, he played a key role in integrating motorway assets acquired by VINCI from the French state in 2006, harmonising operations and maintenance standards across networks and strengthening concession management at a time when the privatisation of French motorways was politically sensitive, thereby cementing his reputation as both a “fixer” of complex organisations and a specialist in long-term infrastructure contracts with tight margins.[11][8][5]
Eurovia leadership
🌐 Deputy managing director for international markets. In May 2010 Anjolras moved from concessions to Eurovia as deputy managing director in charge of international markets and public-private partnerships, extending his responsibilities beyond France as the subsidiary developed roadworks and urban-infrastructure activities in Europe and the Americas through acquisitions and new contracts.[7][4]
🏙️ Chairman and CEO of Eurovia. On 1 March 2014 he was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of Eurovia and joined the VINCI executive committee, taking charge of a subsidiary employing more than 40,000 people in around 16 countries and generating several billion euros in annual revenue; under his leadership Eurovia pursued international growth while investing in innovations such as recycled materials and low-carbon road surfaces in line with the group’s environmental strategy.[7][10]
♻️ Non-executive presidency and innovation focus. From 2016 Anjolras assumed a non-executive presidency at Eurovia, retaining strategic oversight while delegating day-to-day operations, and dedicated more time to innovation ventures, start-ups and pilot projects in areas including urban mobility, circular-economy roadbuilding and sustainable materials, often in conjunction with VINCI’s foresight and innovation programmes.[4][13]
VINCI Construction and group leadership
🏢 Chairman of VINCI Construction. In January 2021 VINCI announced that Anjolras would become chairman of VINCI Construction while continuing to oversee Eurovia, placing him at the head of the group’s historic construction arm, which encompasses hundreds of subsidiaries and more than 100,000 employees engaged in building, civil engineering and specialised works worldwide.[10][9][4]
🧩 Reorganisation of construction activities. One of his principal tasks in this role was to simplify the group’s structure by bringing together Eurovia and VINCI Construction within a unified division, reducing overlaps between general building and roadworks subsidiaries and promoting a “one team” culture; company communications highlighted sustained improvements in performance at the unified construction arm as evidence that the reorganisation had met its objectives.[14][10]
Chief Operating Officer and CEO of VINCI
📌 Appointment as Chief Operating Officer. On 6 May 2024 VINCI announced that Anjolras had been appointed Chief Operating Officer (directeur général opérationnel) of the group, with responsibility for supervising its major business lines including VINCI Construction, concessions and energy activities, an appointment widely interpreted as a central step in a carefully managed succession plan for long-serving chairman and chief executive Xavier Huillard.[9][5][11]
👑 Succession to the chief executive role. In April 2025 shareholders approved the separation of the roles of chairman and chief executive, and from 1 May 2025 Anjolras became Chief Executive Officer of VINCI while Huillard remained non-executive chairman; press coverage stressed that the new chief executive combined experience in both concessions and construction, regarded as the two pillars of the group’s business model, and that he was taking charge of a company reporting record free cash flow and a strong order book.[4][8][5]
📉 Market context and guidance. At the time of his promotion, VINCI’s 2024 results showed revenue above €70 billion and free cash flow of around €6.8 billion, and the group reaffirmed its guidance for 2025 despite a slowdown in new construction in France; analysts nonetheless pointed to headwinds including the eventual expiry of French motorway concessions in the 2030s and mounting pressure to decarbonise construction and transport infrastructure.[8][12][11]
Financial profile and wealth
💶 Executive compensation. As chief executive of a CAC 40 group, Anjolras is expected to receive remuneration broadly in line with the upper tier of French listed-company leaders, combining fixed salary, annual bonus and long-term incentive awards; proxy-advisory analyses of 2024 compensation levels for CAC 40 chief executives indicated a median package of around €6.5 million, with several exceeding €10 million, suggesting the order of magnitude for his pay although detailed figures for his tenure have not yet been published.[5]
📈 Shareholding and incentives. Public filings show that Anjolras personally holds only a modest number of VINCI shares, a pattern typical for non-founder executives of large French groups, while the company’s shareholding structure is otherwise diffuse, with employees collectively owning around 10% of the capital and the largest single investor, Qatar Holding, holding a small single-digit stake; his net worth is therefore primarily linked to his career earnings and performance-based equity rather than to a controlling shareholding.[3][13][12]
🏛️ External mandates and industry roles. Alongside his executive duties, Anjolras holds various industry and governance positions, including seats on bodies such as the Fédération nationale des travaux publics and the Syndicat des entrepreneurs français internationaux, as well as roles within the VINCI orbit such as chairing Eurovia Stone and Eurovia Innovation Venture and serving on the supervisory board of a German subsidiary; since late 2024 he has also been president of La Fabrique de la Cité, an urban-innovation think tank backed by VINCI.[13][4]
Personal life
👨👩👦 Family. Anjolras is married to Christine Anjolras, and the couple have three sons; a 2019 family announcement in the “carnet du jour” section of Le Figaro portrayed him as a devoted son, husband and father, offering one of the few glimpses of his private life in the press.[15]
🏞️ Personality and interests. Profiles of the executive depict him as a warm, approachable and discreet leader who prefers construction sites to media spotlights, frequently visiting projects in a hard hat to speak directly with crews; colleagues and journalists alike emphasise his taste for simplicity and “bon sens” (good common sense) and his satisfaction at working in a sector that directly serves everyday societal needs.[10][11]
🎬 Public image. Commentators have remarked on his physical presence and demeanour, with one French profile comparing his tall frame and salt-and-pepper hair to that of an American actor, while noting that he maintains a low public profile, is rarely associated with ostentatious hobbies and devotes much of his time outside formal duties to discussions on urban planning, infrastructure innovation and sustainability.[11][4]
🧑🏫 Mentorship and engagement with engineers. Through appearances at professional forums, interviews and think-tank events, Anjolras has stressed the importance of long-term thinking, urban resilience and the training of new generations of engineers, sometimes portraying construction as a social mission rather than purely a business and encouraging young graduates to combine technical expertise with attention to community impact.[10][4]
Controversies and challenges
🚗 Motorway taxation and concession debates. As a long-standing motorway-concessions executive and later as chief executive, Anjolras has had to navigate political tension over the profitability of French toll roads, including a surtax on motorway operators proposed in 2023; VINCI Autoroutes warned that additional taxation would ultimately push up tolls for drivers, while parliamentary reports criticised the opacity and perceived generosity of concession contracts and debates intensified over how to manage the expiry of major concessions between 2031 and 2036.[16][8][11]
✊ Labour relations and working conditions. Trade unions within VINCI have criticised what they see as an uneven sharing of the group’s strong financial results, pointing to strikes and complaints about workload and stress, particularly in activities such as airport ground services, and observers note that Anjolras will be judged in part on whether he adjusts the balance between profitability and employee wellbeing as he consolidates his leadership.[8]
⚖️ Qatar labour allegations. In November 2022 a VINCI Construction subsidiary was indicted in France over alleged abusive labour conditions on building sites in Qatar, including works linked to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with charges ranging from inhumane working conditions to trafficking in persons; VINCI strongly denied the accusations, insisting that it respected local laws and human-rights standards and contesting the charges in court, but the affair fuelled criticism from non-governmental organisations and investors concerned with environmental, social and governance criteria and forms part of the background to Anjolras’s later promotion to chief executive.[8]
🌱 Environmental transition and strategic choices. Beyond specific controversies, Anjolras’s tenure is unfolding against the broader challenge of decarbonising construction and transport infrastructure, since building roads, bridges and airports with lower emissions requires new materials, methods and sometimes changes to the business mix; statements from him and from the group have stressed investment in research, low-carbon technologies and urban-innovation platforms such as La Fabrique de la Cité as ways of reconciling growth with climate objectives.[10][8][4]
🔭 Expectations from stakeholders. Investors and commentators have generally welcomed his appointment as offering continuity with the strategy pursued under Huillard while enabling generational renewal, whereas unions and NGOs have signalled that they will assess his tenure by improvements in areas such as profit-sharing, human rights and environmental commitments; balancing these expectations, alongside financial targets and regulatory scrutiny, constitutes one of the central tests for his leadership of VINCI.[11][8][5]
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References
- ↑ "À nos lecteurs : découvrez le Magazine de Batiactu". Batiactu.
- ↑ "VINCI Construction – Essentiel 2022" (PDF). VINCI.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Pierre Anjolras". VINCI. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 "Pierre Anjolras". La Fabrique de la Cité. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 "Vinci balise le plan de succession de Xavier Huillard" (in French). L'Agefi. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Pierre Anjolras" (in French). Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 "Pierre Anjolras becomes Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eurovia". VINCI. 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 "A Vinci, la vraie-fausse sortie de Xavier Huillard, l'homme qui a métamorphosé le groupe de BTP" (in French). Le Monde. 2025-04-17. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Pierre Anjolras appointed Chief Operating Officer of VINCI". VINCI. 2024-05-06. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 "Grand Témoin : « Nous n'avons jamais eu autant besoin de construire », Pierre Anjolras, Vinci" (in French). Batiactu. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 "Pierre Anjolras, futur visage du Cac 40" (in French). Carole Bellemare. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Vinci (entreprise)" (in French). Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Pierre Anjolras: Positions, Relations and Network". MarketScreener. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ "Vinci : Pierre Anjolras nommé directeur général opérationnel" (in French). Décideurs Magazine. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ "René Anjolras" (in French). Le Figaro. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
- ↑ "Taxe sur les sociétés d'autoroutes : comprendre le bras de fer avec le gouvernement" (in French). Le Point. 2023-11-20. Retrieved 2025-11-20.