AXA honours the memory of its founder Claude Bébéar

Claude Bébéar, founder and Honorary Chairman of AXA, passed away at the age of 90.

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Claude Bébéar was born on 29 July 1935 in Isaac, Dordogne. After graduating from the Ecole Polytechnique (class of 1955) and the Paris Institute of Actuaries, he was recruited by André Sahut d'Izarn, who was managing the Anciennes Mutuelles d'Assurance group in Rouen. In 1975, after the death of André Sahut d'Izarn, Claude Bébéar was appointed CEO. The same year, he created the Ancienne Mutuelle de Réassurance: AMré, which became AXA RE.

The 1980s: years of growth in France

In 1982, he seized the opportunity to take control of the Drouot Group, the leading private insurance group at that time. Shortly after, he created Entreprise et Cité, an association of business leaders concerned with affirming the role of businesses in serving the communities they operate in.

In April 1986, AXA bought the Présence Group. This was also the year of the creation of the Institut du Mécénat Humanitaire, now Les entreprises pour la Cité - encouraging companies to engage in humanitarian philanthropy.

The Group continued its expansion by merging with Compagnie du Midi in 1988. AXA became the second largest French insurance group behind UAP.

During that same year, Claude Bébéar was elected Manager of the Year. He was the first representative of the financial world to receive this distinction.

The 1990s: a time of internationalization and consolidation

After consulting with employees and tied agents in France, Claude Bébéar centralized all resources on humanitarian philanthropy, while also further supporting the 2,000 volunteering employees and agents: AXA Hearts in Action was launched in 1990.

In January 1991, AXA crossed the Atlantic and took control of the fifth largest life insurance company in the United States. In 1992, Equitable was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1995, AXA took control of the second largest life company in Australia and Hong Kong, National Mutual - the Group’s expansion to the Southern Hemisphere was beginning.

In 1996, AXA bought UAP. This was a major turning point. AXA doubled its footprint in France, reached critical mass in the UK, Belgium and Germany and strengthened its position in most other countries.

In 1997, George Bush, former President of the United States, presented Claude Bébéar with the Point of Light Award for the most exemplary company in terms of humanitarian philanthropy. This was the first time that a non-US company received this award.

In early 1999, the Group gained a foothold in the world's largest insurance market by acquiring control of Nippon Danai, the thirteenth largest life insurance company in the Japanese market.

In May 2000, Claude Bébéar handed over the chairmanship of the AXA Management Board to Henri de Castries and became Chairman of the Supervisory Board. At that time, AXA had €80 billion revenues and 50 million customers, served by 140,000 employees worldwide.

Claude Bébéar was Honorary Chairman of AXA since then and in 2015, he became Honorary Chairman of the Institut Montaigne, an independent political think tank which he founded and chaired.

Portrait of Claude Bébéar
Vision, boldness, service, Claude Bébéar embodied all the qualities of an exceptional entrepreneur. His spirit of conquest has been the driver of one of the greatest economic successes of the past 50 years, transforming, in less than one generation, a small mutual insurance company from Normandy into a global insurance giant.