Born in France in 1956, Jean-Paul Agon joined L’Oréal in 1978 after graduating from HEC international business school.

After a brief stint in 1980 as a product manager for the Consumer Products Division in France, he began his international career in 1981 at 24 years old, becoming Managing Director of the Consumer Products subsidiary of L’Oréal in Greece.

In 1985, Jean-Paul Agon was recalled to France to become the General Manager of L’Oréal Paris in France. He launched the Studio Line range and relaunched the Plénitude and Elsève brands.

In 1989, then-CEO Lindsay Owen-Jones entrusted him with leading Biotherm, a brand of the Luxury Products Division, where he undertook a strategic repositioning.

In 1994, Jean-Paul Agon took over the management of L’Oréal in Germany, then the largest European market after France. He ran the subsidiary for three years.

In 1997, Lindsay Owen-Jones asked Jean-Paul Agon to set-up and lead the L’Oréal Asia Zone, lending fresh impetus to these still emerging markets.

In September 2001, Jean-Paul Agon was appointed President of L’Oréal’s North American subsidiaries, the first market worldwide that represented about a quarter of the Group’s sales.

The Board of Directors appointed him as Chief Executive Officer in 2006, then as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 2011. Jean-Paul Agon has been holding the office of Chairman of the Board of Directors without assuming the office of Chief Executive Officer since 1 May 2021.

In 2009, he received the Ethical Resource Center’s Pace Leadership in Ethics Award for L’Oréal’s achievements in the area of business ethics, diversity, financial transparency and sustainable development, and in 2015 he was named Visionary of the Year by Women’s Wear Daily.

Jean-Paul Agon is a Director of Air Liquide, a Member of the European Round Table for Industry, and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Consumer Goods Forum. He is also an Officer of the French Legion of Honour.