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Stéphane Boujnah

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"To succeed, my obsession was to seek security through the most accessible means—in my case, through work."

— Stéphane Boujnah[1]

Overview

Stéphane Boujnah
Born (1964-04-11) 11 April 1964 (age 61)
Albertville, France
CitizenshipFrance
EducationInstitut d'Études Politiques de Paris; Master's and DEA in business and international economic law, Panthéon-Sorbonne University
Alma materInstitut d'Études Politiques de Paris; Panthéon-Sorbonne University; University of Kent; INSEAD
Occupation(s)Business executive, lawyer
EmployerEuronext
Known forCEO and chairman of the managing board of Euronext N.V.
TitleChief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Managing Board
Term2015–present
PredecessorDominique Cerutti
Board member ofEn Temps Réel; Prométhée Education; Accentus; Insula Orchestra
SpouseHélène Roques
Children4
AwardsKnight of the Order of the Polar Star; Knight of the Legion of Honour

👤 Stéphane Boujnah (born 11 April 1964) is a French business executive and lawyer who has served as chief executive officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Managing Board of Euronext N.V. since November 2015.[3][4] A former mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer and adviser in the French finance ministry, he went on to senior investment banking roles at Deutsche Bank and Banco Santander before being selected to lead Euronext following its spin-off from NYSE Euronext.[5][6] Under his tenure Euronext has grown from four to seven national exchanges, diversified into post-trade, data and power markets, and increased its revenues from about €458 million in 2015 to more than €1.4 billion in 2024, while entering the CAC 40 index in 2025.[7][8] A co-founder of the anti-racism movement SOS Racisme, he has remained active in educational and cultural initiatives alongside his role in European capital markets.[9][10]

Early life and education

🧒 Family background. Stéphane Tamzarti Boujnah was born in Albertville on 11 April 1964 to a Tunisian immigrant father who worked as a brewery labourer and a mother who was a primary school teacher.[9][4] He spent part of his childhood in Sfax in Tunisia before the family settled in the industrial outskirts of Nancy, in the town of Champigneulles in northeastern France.[9][4] Growing up far from elite political or financial circles, he later recalled that people around him expected, at best, a modest career, an experience that underpins his emphasis on social mobility and education.[9]

🎒 Schooling and early ambitions. A turning point came when a junior-high teacher noticed his academic potential and helped him secure a place at a leading lycée in Nancy, where he thrived and was, in his own phrase, “raised like a racehorse” through demanding preparatory studies.[9] These formative years exposed him to rigorous humanities and social-science training and instilled a belief that work and education could provide both security and opportunity for students from non-elite backgrounds.[9]

🎓 Higher education. After secondary school, Boujnah moved to Paris and was admitted to the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) while simultaneously studying law at Panthéon-Sorbonne University.[4][3] He obtained a Master’s degree and a DEA (advanced diploma) in business and international economic law from the Sorbonne, an LL.M. in international business law from the University of Kent at Canterbury, and later an MBA from INSEAD, giving him a broad academic foundation spanning politics, law and business.[4][3] This multidisciplinary training would later shape his approach to the interaction of public policy and financial markets.[11]

🕊 Student activism and SOS Racisme. As a 20-year-old student in 1984, Boujnah was among the co-founders of SOS Racisme, an anti-racism advocacy group launched alongside figures such as Harlem Désir and Julien Dray.[4][9] He later explained that this period shaped his conviction that public action could “make the world better” by reducing the gap between talent and opportunity, a philosophy that would continue to influence his outlook even after he chose a career primarily in the private sector.[9][10] While some of his contemporaries from SOS Racisme moved into full-time politics, Boujnah initially channelled the same ideals into legal work and, later, finance.

Career

Early legal and public-sector career

⚖️ Business lawyer at Freshfields. Boujnah began his professional career in 1991 as a business attorney at the international law firm Freshfields, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, privatisations and international investment projects in France.[4][5] His work exposed him early to large cross-border transactions and the legal infrastructure surrounding corporate restructuring and foreign investment.

🏛 Adviser in the Ministry of Economy and Finance. In 1997 he left private practice to join the cabinet of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, then France’s Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, as a technical adviser.[5][10] At Bercy he was principally responsible for the development of France’s nascent digital economy and for facilitating major foreign investment projects, gaining what he later described as a close-up view of how public policy, regulation and markets interact.[4] The experience also placed him within the informal network of “DSK boys”, a cohort of younger advisers associated with Strauss-Kahn’s tenure in economic policy.[10]

Investment banking and entrepreneurship

💻 Move to Silicon Valley and Credit Suisse First Boston. After Strauss-Kahn left the ministry in 1999, Boujnah returned to the private sector. In 2000 he joined the Technology Group of Crédit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) as Director of M&A, first in Palo Alto during the dot-com boom and later in London.[5][3] Advising on consolidation in the technology and internet-infrastructure sectors, he gained international deal-making experience and first-hand exposure to the volatility of technology markets in the early 2000s.[4]

🚀 Km5 Capital and entrepreneurial phase. In 2003 Boujnah left big banking to found Km5 Capital, a Paris-based advisory boutique focused on capital raising and mergers and acquisitions for venture-backed technology companies.[5][3] The firm specialised in helping innovative start-ups access growth capital, an activity that tested his appetite for entrepreneurial risk and deepened his understanding of early-stage financing ecosystems. He ran Km5 Capital for around two years before larger international institutions again sought his expertise.

💼 Deutsche Bank in France and North Africa. In 2005 Boujnah joined Deutsche Bank in Paris as a managing director and senior investment banker, tasked with expanding the bank’s investment-banking franchise in France and with developing business in North Africa.[4][5] He also served as president of Deutsche Securities Algeria between 2007 and 2010, reflecting both his European-Mediterranean background and his ability to operate in diverse regulatory and cultural environments.[3]

🌍 Santander Global Banking and Markets. In 2010 he moved to Banco Santander, where he became CEO of Santander Global Banking and Markets for France and Benelux, and later for continental Europe as a whole.[5][3] In this role he managed financing, markets and advisory activities across multiple European hubs, leading large cross-border teams and working closely with corporate and institutional clients. By the mid-2010s he had accumulated a rare combination of experience in top-tier law firms, government service, entrepreneurship and leadership roles in major European banks, setting the stage for his recruitment to lead Euronext.[6]

Euronext

🏦 Appointment to Euronext. On 10 September 2015 Euronext announced that Boujnah had been nominated as CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board, succeeding Dominique Cerutti after a period in which Jos Dijsselhof served as interim chief executive.[12][13] He took up his duties in November 2015, at a time when Euronext had only recently regained independence following its spin-off from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and was perceived by some observers as a collection of legacy exchanges with uncertain prospects.[7][10] Boujnah later described his initial focus as ensuring the group’s survival in a sector where scale and technology were increasingly central.[7]

🔧 Technology platform and revenue diversification. Early in his tenure Boujnah prioritised modernising Euronext’s technology and reducing its dependence on equity trading volumes. He championed the development of Optiq, a next-generation trading platform that was rolled out across all the group’s markets to harmonise infrastructure and improve performance.[4][14] In parallel, he pursued acquisitions that diversified Euronext’s revenue streams beyond cash-equity trading, including the 2017 purchase of the FX platform FastMatch (later rebranded Euronext FX), the 2018 acquisition of Company Webcast in corporate services, and the 2019 acquisition of the power exchange Nord Pool.[4][7] By the early 2020s, non-volume-related activities such as data, indices, listing and post-trade services accounted for close to 60% of Euronext’s revenues, compared with around 40% when he arrived.[8][7]

🤝 Federal model and pan-European expansion. Boujnah has described Euronext’s structure as a “federal model” in which national exchanges join a wider group while retaining their local identities and governance elements.[7] Under this approach, Euronext acquired the Irish Stock Exchange (Euronext Dublin) in 2018, Oslo Børs VPS in 2019 and the Danish central securities depository VP Securities in 2020, expanding its network from an initial four markets (Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon) to six, supported by enhanced clearing and settlement capabilities.[4][14] These deals reinforced Euronext’s role as a consolidator in fragmented European capital markets and prepared the ground for a larger transaction in Italy.

🧩 Acquisition of Borsa Italiana and vertical integration. In 2021 Euronext completed the €4.4 billion acquisition of the Borsa Italiana group from the London Stock Exchange, bringing the Italian exchange, the fixed-income platform MTS, the clearing house CC&G (later Euronext Clearing) and the central securities depository Monte Titoli into the group.[7][4] The deal made Italy the largest single revenue contributor within Euronext and significantly expanded the group’s presence in fixed-income trading and post-trade services.[7] Boujnah presented Borsa Italiana as a “must-have” asset and as the cornerstone of Euronext’s strategy to control more of the capital-markets value chain, from listing and trading through to clearing and settlement.[7]

🌐 Further consolidation and Athens offer. Consolidation did not stop with Italy. In July 2025 Euronext announced its intention to launch a voluntary share offer for the Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX), extending its footprint into southern Europe and reinforcing its ambition to act as the backbone of a more integrated European capital market.[4][15] By 2025 the group operated seven national exchanges and multiple central securities depositories and clearing entities, with the total market capitalisation of companies listed on its markets reaching roughly €6.5 trillion, significantly ahead of several rival European exchange groups.[7]

💹 Financial performance and CAC 40 inclusion. Under Boujnah’s leadership Euronext’s revenues rose from around €458 million in 2014–2015 to more than €1.4 billion by 2024, while its market capitalisation increased from roughly €2 billion at his arrival to around €14–15 billion a decade later.[4][7] In 2024 the company’s share price gained about 28%, materially outperforming the Euro Stoxx 50 index, and in September 2025 Euronext joined the CAC 40, France’s blue-chip stock-market index, in recognition of its growth and liquidity.[8][16] Euronext’s management emphasised that this trajectory reflected both organic growth and the integration of acquisitions, supported by a steady increase in profitability and the distribution of substantial dividends.[14]

🧭 Strategic positioning and European integration. Boujnah has positioned Euronext as a champion of deeper European capital-markets integration, arguing that larger and more unified markets are necessary to finance growth and strategic autonomy in the European Union.[7] He has been a vocal supporter of initiatives such as the EU’s Capital Markets Union and has welcomed calls by policymakers, including German chancellor Friedrich Merz, for a more unified European stock market.[17] Within this framework he has also advocated a broadened concept of sustainable finance, reinterpreting “ESG” as “Energy, Security and Geostrategy” to underline the links between green transition, security of supply and Europe’s geopolitical position.[7] In a 2025 interview he indicated that he expected to leave Euronext at the end of his current mandate in 2027, expressing an interest in taking on another role with “tangible impact” after more than a decade at the group’s helm.[7]

Compensation, wealth and governance

💰 Remuneration and pay structure. As CEO of Euronext, Boujnah has been well remunerated relative to the broader labour market but remains below the median for chief executives of similarly sized European exchange and financial groups. In 2023 his total compensation was reported at about €4.3 million, an increase of roughly 10% on the previous year and composed of a base salary of approximately €1 million with the remainder in annual bonuses and long-term incentives.[18] Independent analyses have estimated that this level is roughly one-third below the average pay of CEOs at companies in Euronext’s peer group, reflecting both the group’s governance culture and a relatively high proportion of performance-linked components in his package.[18]

📊 Share ownership and estimated wealth. In addition to his salary and incentives, Boujnah holds a meaningful personal stake in Euronext shares, estimated at around €6.6 million in value, giving him direct exposure to the group’s share-price performance.[18] External estimates have placed his overall personal wealth at approximately US$15–16 million, largely reflecting accumulated remuneration and equity over his career in banking and exchanges.[19] His compensation structure is substantially weighted towards variable and long-term components, which the company argues aligns his interests with those of shareholders.[18][14]

📋 Governance and board memberships. Outside his executive role, Boujnah has maintained a relatively limited portfolio of corporate directorships, reflecting the demands of leading a large market-infrastructure group. He served on the board of the retail group Fnac (later Fnac Darty) from 2013 to 2015, stepping down upon joining Euronext, and has focused since then on governance roles in non-profit and policy organisations.[4] He co-founded the think tank En Temps Réel in 2000 and has chaired its board, and he has taken part in European policy forums such as the “Commission Attali” on French economic growth and the High-Level Forum on the Capital Markets Union.[4][9]

Personal life and other activities

🏠 Family life. Boujnah is married to Hélène Roques, an executive and author engaged in social and corporate-responsibility issues, and the couple have four children.[4][3][10] Despite his high-profile corporate role he has generally kept his family life out of the public eye, occasionally referring in interviews to the grounding influence of his domestic life and the importance he places on stability for his children.[9]

📚 Mentoring and educational initiatives. Having come from a modest background and benefited from teachers who encouraged him into elite education, Boujnah has invested time in mentoring programmes aimed at students from underprivileged areas. He is vice-president of Prométhée Education, a programme that supports high-potential pupils from disadvantaged suburbs in preparing applications to selective universities and grandes écoles, and he regularly visits schools to discuss his own trajectory and the role of work in achieving security and advancement.[4][9] He has summarised his personal philosophy as an “obsession” with seeking security through work, a theme that recurs in both his autobiographical remarks and his advice to younger generations.[9]

🎼 Cultural, think-tank and policy engagement. Beyond finance and education, Boujnah has long been active in cultural and intellectual circles. He chaired the board of the Accentus choir and the Insula Orchestra from 2011 to 2025, supporting classical-music performance and outreach projects, and he has been involved with international forums such as the Trilateral Commission.[4] A long-time enthusiast of political ideas and history, he was a member of the French Socialist Party until 2013 and contributed to think tanks such as À Gauche en Europe and the Fondation Jean-Jaurès, working alongside figures including former prime minister Michel Rocard.[4][10] After taking up the Euronext role he distanced himself from formal partisan activity in order to preserve the perceived neutrality of the exchange, while continuing to speak publicly on European economic and financial integration.

Controversies and challenges

💸 Debates over executive pay. Although Boujnah has avoided personal scandals, his remuneration at Euronext has periodically drawn criticism from some shareholders. At the 2023 annual general meeting a majority of investors voted against the non-binding resolution on executive pay, objecting in particular to an exceptional bonus granted following the integration of recent acquisitions at a time when the share price had lagged broader indices.[20] A similar pattern of investor unease re-emerged in 2024, prompting discussions between management and shareholders about pay levels and performance metrics.[20] Boujnah responded by emphasising that most of his compensation is variable and that his significant shareholding links his personal income to Euronext’s long-term results.[18]

🧬 Integration of acquisitions and operational incidents. Euronext’s rapid expansion under Boujnah, particularly the integration of Oslo Børs, VP Securities and Borsa Italiana, has presented organisational and technological challenges. Analysts and some employees have pointed to the complexity of harmonising multiple trading venues, clearing houses and depositories under a single “federal” umbrella, as well as the strain placed on staff during successive integration projects.[7] A notable trading outage in October 2020, which temporarily halted activity across Euronext markets, highlighted the operational risks inherent in large market-infrastructure platforms.[7] In response, Boujnah has stressed investments in cyber-security, unified technology architecture and the promotion of a “One Euronext” culture that seeks to balance local autonomy with group-wide standards.[14]

📉 Market environment, politics and public perception. Like other exchange CEOs, Boujnah has had to navigate external headwinds such as a relative drought in major European initial public offerings and the tendency of some high-growth firms to list in the United States.[8] He has used these trends to argue for strengthened European capital markets and has openly criticised developments he views as undermining Europe’s financial autonomy, including the failed merger between the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse and the effects of Brexit on London’s role.[7][17] In France, some commentary initially highlighted the contrast between his past activism on the left and his role leading a major stock-exchange group, with media outlets referring to him as a “socialist at the stock exchange”; Boujnah has responded by insisting that his appointment reflected professional rather than political connections and by underscoring the commercial independence of Euronext.[10] Over time, evaluations of his tenure have focused more on Euronext’s performance and strategy than on his earlier partisan affiliations.

Related content & more

YouTube videos

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Stéphane Boujnah discusses Euronext's federal model and European capital markets on the Le Bang stage at the Bpifrance Big 2021 event.
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Television interview with Stéphane Boujnah on BFM Business's "La Grande Interview" about Euronext’s strategy and European stock markets.

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References

  1. ↑ "Mon obsession était la quête de la sécurité par le travail: comment Stéphane Boujnah s'est hissé à la tête d'Euronext à force de détermination". Challenges.
  2. ↑ "Mon obsession était la quête de la sécurité par le travail: comment Stéphane Boujnah s'est hissé à la tête d'Euronext à force de détermination". Challenges.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "Stéphane Boujnah". Wikitia. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  4. ↑ 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 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 "Stéphane Boujnah". Wikipédia (French). Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "Stéphane Boujnah Biography". Banco Santander. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Stéphane Boujnah". MarketsWiki. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 "Euronext Transforms Over a Decade". MarketsMedia. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "Euronext lifts revenue target in new three-year plan". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  9. ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 "\"Mon obsession était la quête de la sécurité par le travail\": comment Stéphane Boujnah s'est hissé à la tête d'Euronext à force de détermination". Challenges. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 "Stéphane Boujnah, un socialiste à la Bourse". Le Monde. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  11. ↑ "Euronext Annual Conference – Biography of Stéphane Boujnah". Euronext. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  12. ↑ "Stéphane Boujnah Nominated as CEO of Euronext". Euronext. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  13. ↑ "Euronext nominates Stéphane Boujnah as CEO". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 "Stéphane Boujnah reappointed as CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board of Euronext". Euronext. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  15. ↑ "Euronext beats estimates with double digit growth". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  16. ↑ "Entrée d'Euronext au CAC 40 : « Son patron vante à l'envi le succès d'un modèle fédéral européen »". Le Monde. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Euronext welcomes Merz's call for a European stock market". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 "Here's Why Euronext N.V.'s (EPA:ENX) CEO May Have Their Pay Bumped Up". Simply Wall St via Webull. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  19. ↑ "Stéphane Boujnah: Postes, Relations & Réseau". Zonebourse. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Rémunération : les actionnaires d'Euronext ont donné un avertissement à Stéphane Boujnah". Finascope. Retrieved 2025-11-20.
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