Having What It Takes

Hendri de La Croix de Castries belongs to the French establishment. He is a member of the House of Castries. His father, Comte Francois de La Croix de Castries was in the military having served in Korea, Indochina and Algeria. Comte Pierre de Chevigne, his maternal grandfather was a colonel in the Free French forces.  A family member was also a naval minister under Louis XVI and another General Charles de Gaulle’s wartime ambassador to the U.S.

Henri was born on August 15, 1954 in Bayonne, France. He attended the best schools such as Ecole de Hautes Eludes Commerciales (HEC), the leading business school in France and Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) which has produced many government leaders.  

Henri began his career auditing government agencies while working in the French Ministry Inspection Office from 1980 to 1984. Then in 1984 he moved to the French Treasury Department where in 1986 he played an active role in the privatization of some government companies and was later appointed to head exchange markets and balance of payments for the Treasury.

He made his moved to the private sector in 1989 joining the Corporate Finance Division of AXA.  Henri became the Corporate Secretary in 1991. He was in charge of the legal aspects of the reorganization and merger of Compagnie du Midi into the AXA Group.  After two years Henri became Senior Executive Vice President for AXA’s asset management, financial and real-estate businesses.

He was given the additional responsibility of overseeing UK and North American operations in 1994. Henri’s roles and responsibilities within AXA continued to increase in importance. He played an important role in the preparation of the merger with UAP and in managing the integration of the two entities.  The following year he became Chairman of the Equitable Companies. This later became AXA Financial.

Henri became Chairman of the AXA Management Board on May 2000 until April 2010. Due to some changes in the corporate government structure he became the Chairman and CEO of AXA since April 2010 and currently holds these positions.

It can be said Henri had more advantages than most people due to his family ties. Yet he has made the most of what he’s got and proved that he has what it takes to run one of the largest insurance companies in the world.