Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux will lead the French Alps 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Organising Committee. Unanimously appointed on 29 October, he will take up the role on 2 November, succeeding Edgar Grospiron following Vincent Roberti’s interim presidency. The 64-year-old businessman described his new responsibility as “the job of a lifetime”. “I’ve done many things in my life, but hosting the Olympics in France is exceptional,” he said after his appointment.
The former president of MEDEF, France’s main employers’ organisation, brings experience from the boards of Paris 2024 and the France 2023 Rugby World Cup organising committee. But his relationship with sport began long before those appointments. University rugby, marathons, triathlon and cycling form part of a life that also includes service in the French naval commandos, an international career in cosmetics and a foundation established with his wife.
Rugby friendships and military experience
At ESSEC Business School, he gained a business education and formed relationships that would last for decades. He played rugby alongside Patrick Martin, who would eventually succeed him as MEDEF president. Recalling those years in an interview with the alumni magazine ‘Reflets’, he explained: “Rugby is, above all, camaraderie and lasting friendships.” His teammates also included Olivier Cantet, who later became president of the alumni association. In his recollections, the rugby pitch was a place where bonds were formed that continued well beyond university.
After studying at ESSEC and Paris-Dauphine, he completed his military service with the French naval commandos, serving in Africa and Lebanon. He remembers the physical and mental demands, but also the experience of living alongside people from different social backgrounds. In the same interview, he offered a striking assessment: “The people I admire most, I didn’t meet in business, but in the special forces.” He subsequently maintained his connection with the French Navy reserve.
The entrepreneur and the family he found at ESSEC
His business career began within a major company. He spent ten years at L’Oréal, holding positions in the United Kingdom and Poland, before establishing The Phone House with Pierre Cuilleret in 1996. The specialist mobile phone retail chain became the starting point for further ventures, including Virgin Mobile and Notus Technologies. Before representing French employers, he had built and developed businesses of his own. His MEDEF presidency, from 2018 to 2023, added negotiation and public advocacy on behalf of companies to that experience.
ESSEC also holds a place in his family history. He met Sabine Roux de Bézieux there, and they have four children. Looking back on his time at the school, he describes meeting her as one of its most important moments. The connection extended to their wedding: Michel Calamy, an Oratorian priest and the school’s former director of studies, married them. Geoffroy and Sabine would later establish another shared project, the Araok Foundation, created in 2005 using part of the proceeds from his first business venture.
A family foundation and an everyday bicycle
Araok means “forward” in Breton. Operating under the umbrella of the Fondation de France, the family project has supported social, educational and equal opportunity initiatives. In an interview published in 2013, Sabine explained their ambition: “To trust in human nature and give everyone the means to find their own path.” That profile described a commitment shared with her husband and their four children, rooted in the decision to devote part of the family’s resources to helping others find new opportunities.
Sport has also taken different forms throughout his life. In an interview published by the French Cycling Federation, he explains that, after many years of rugby, he began running marathons, moved into triathlon and eventually took up cycling. He enjoys cycle touring and gravel riding, goes out with Club Paris-Deauville and uses his bicycle every day in Paris. Alongside the exercise, he values its social dimension: “Sport breaks down the usual social barriers.” Riding gives him time with other people and opportunities for conversations outside his professional responsibilities.
From cycling to organising the Games
That interest led to another commitment: he has chaired the France Vélo Foundation since April 2024. On taking up the position, he championed cycling both for its opportunities for sport and companionship and for its ability to transform personal and work-related travel. His interest has also extended into business, through investments linked to cargo bike manufacturers. It is one area where his commercial activities intersect with something he practises in everyday life.
French Alps 2030 will be his next working environment. He had already joined its board and chaired its remuneration committee from 1 April, allowing him to follow preparations before taking on the presidency. His appointment brings together the French state, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions, and the French Olympic and Paralympic committees. “Chairing French Alps 2030 is an honour because, above all, it is a commitment to showcasing sport and France through teamwork,” he said in the appointment statement. When he joins on Monday, his focus will be on working with the teams to put operational preparations into action across the host territories.
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