Denis Kessler
Thierry Léger, chief executive officer, SCOR, said, “Over the past two decades, Denis Kessler has been the architect behind SCOR’s success and reputation throughout the world. His passion for reinsurance was unparalleled, and his ambition to make SCOR an industry leader never left him. It has been the driving force behind all his actions at the head of the Group over the past 21 years”
Paris:
Denis Kessler, 71, non-executive chairman of SCOR and the reinsurer’s former chief executive, has expired on June 9.
Thierry Léger, chief executive officer, SCOR, said, “Over the past two decades, Denis Kessler has been the architect behind SCOR’s success and reputation throughout the world. His passion for reinsurance was unparalleled, and his ambition to make SCOR an industry leader never left him. It has been the driving force behind all his actions at the head of the Group over the past 21 years. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to work alongside Denis. He leaves us an extraordinary legacy. It is now up to us to carry on his work. The strong foundations on which he rebuilt the group enable us to look to the future with total confidence.”
In accordance with the internal regulations of the Board of Directors, Vice-Chairman Augustin de Romanet will chair the Board for an interim period, until a new Chairman is appointed as part of the ongoing process.
An economist and an iconic figure of the insurance and reinsurance world, and more widely of the French business world, Denis Kessler devoted his entire life to business, first within employer and trade organizations, and then at SCOR, which he joined as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer on November 4, 2002.
With his cutting-edge vision, his outstanding commitment and his leadership, Denis Kessler turned the Group around in spectacular fashion over a period of more than two decades, enabling it to become a leading global reinsurer. He became non-executive Chairman of SCOR on June 30, 2021.
A member of the Institut de France, Denis Kessler was also a man of culture, firmly committed to the spread and transfer of knowledge. His own breadth of knowledge ranged from economics to philosophy, literature and music. His vision and the depth of his analyses have made a lasting impact on the organizations and bodies he has led and to which he has contributed.