While he clashes with the government on the question of selling fuel at a loss, he still remains master of his kingdom… The fiery CEO of TotalEnergies Patrick Pouyanné, at the head of the company for almost 10 years, is heading towards a 4th mandate, supported by its board of directors which will propose to renew it at the general meeting of shareholders next May.
“The unanimous board of directors is counting on his leadership and strategic vision to continue the transition of TotalEnergies,” declared Jacques Aschenbroich, lead director, quoted in a press release.
A new three-year term
If he is reappointed at the next general meeting, scheduled for May 2024, the 60-year-old boss will reappoint for a fourth three-year term. “As long as I have fun in these functions, it’s yes,” the boss confided last June to the JDD who questioned him about his desire to continue.
Evoking “the relevance of the balanced multi-energy strategy implemented by the company with regard to the evolution of the oil, gas and electricity markets”, the board of directors unanimously judged “highly desirable” that Patrick Pouyanné, “continues the deployment of this strategy at the head of the company”, supported the group in its press release.
“The company displays a very solid balance sheet at the end of 2022 and is in a position both to implement its transition strategy and to guarantee an attractive shareholder return policy”, further justifies the company, at 19 billion euros in profits in 2022, its absolute record driven by the surge in oil and gas prices. “For ten years, Patrick has done an excellent job of steering TotalEnergies in a complex environment, delivering extremely solid financial results, and engaging the company in the energy transition more quickly and resolutely than its peers,” also praised Jacques Aschenbroich.
In the heart of storms
Patrick Pouyanné joined Total in January 1997 within the strategic Exploration-Production division, as general secretary in Angola. It was in October 2014 that he arrived at the top of the company, as general director, succeeding Christophe de Margerie who died suddenly in the collision of his private plane with a snowplow in Moscow.
Patrick Pouyanné was officially appointed CEO on December 19, 2015 for a first term of 3 years, before two others. The statutes provide that the age limit of the general director is set at 67 years and that of the president at 70 years.
In recent years, the CEO – one of the most observed in the CAC40 – has had the difficult task of supporting the oil major in its energy transition, with a strategy of diversification towards renewable electricity, targets for reducing its carbon footprint, and a new name adopted in 2021: TotalEnergies.
He made gas his priority
At the same time, he has made gas his priority – a profitable strategy – and insists that the world still needs fossil fuels, oil in particular, which makes him one of the favorite Turk heads of climate defenders who accuse him of not transforming fast enough.
In 3 years, the 1.91 m colossus, known for his outspokenness and direct manners, will have gone through several major crises and many media storms: Covid, war in Ukraine and partial renunciation of his activities in Russia; refinery crisis; pressure from the French government to lower prices at the pump, but also the controversy over his super-profits, even his own salary.