Sébastien Bazin
Chairman and CEO of Accor
Read the biography of Sébastien Bazin

Iris Knobloch
Independent Director, Senior Independent Director and Vice-Chairman of the Board

• First appointed as a director on April 25, 2013.
• Current term due to expire at the close of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.
• German national.

Iris Knobloch is President of the Cannes Film Festival and Chair of the Board of Directors of Deezer. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Banque Lazard Ltd and Governor of the American Hospital in Paris.

Iris Knobloch was previously Chair and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of I2PO, an SPAC (Special Acquisition Purpose Company) dedicated to the entertainment and leisure industry and the first SPAC in Europe to be cofounded and led by a woman. In July 2022, I2PO merged with Deezer, a musical streaming platform, and was renamed Deezer S.A.

Until June 2021, Iris Knobloch was President of WarnerMedia France, Germany, Benelux, Austria and Switzerland, responsible for developing and implementing WarnerMedia’s strategy and coordinating all of the Group’s sales and marketing activities in the region. She previously held several managerial positions at Warner Bros and Time Warner in New York, Los Angeles and London.

Before joining WarnerMedia in 1996, Iris Knobloch began her career as an attorney in firms specialized in the media in Munich, New York and Los Angeles.

Iris Knobloch is trilingual in French, German and English. She earned a J.D. degree from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich in 1987 and an LL.M. degree from New York University in 1992.
She was previously member of the Board of Directors of Axel Springer and LVMH and well as CME Central European Media Enterprises.

In 2008, she was awarded the title of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.

Asma Abdulrahman Al-Khulaifi
Director

• First appointed as a director on: May 20, 2022.
• Current term due to expire at the close of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2024.
• Qatari national.

Asma Abdulrahman Al-Khulaifi is a lawyer, and holds a LL.M in international trade and investment law. She speaks three languages and has extensive knowledge of international trade and investment law, mergers and acquisitions, human rights and environmental law as well as culture and politics.

She started her career in education policy, before shifting to the field of law. Her most notable experiences include advising the government on trade law matters and working as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer in Qatar Investment Authority (QIA)'s legal department, where she is covering deals in retail and consumer, real estate, funds, healthcare, infrastructure and industrials.

As an active member of her community, Asma Abdulrahman Al-Khulaifi has co-founded the MENA-Women in Law NGO, which aims to foster innovative and supportive dialogue among female lawyers in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Ugo Arzani
Director

• First appointed as a director on: May 20, 2022.
• Current term due to expire at the close of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2024.
• Italian national.

Ugo Arzani is Head of Retail & Consumer at Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). In this role, he is responsible for investments in retail, consumer goods, consumer technology, leisure and sports and agricultural companies. To date, he has completed more than 40 investments worldwide for QIA. Before joining QIA in 2013, Mr. Arzani spent 15 years at Merrill Lynch in its investment banking division, in London, during which he advised retail and consumer companies in a multitude of mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions.

Ugo Arzani is fluent in Italian, English, French and German. He grew up between Italy and Switzerland and has worked all his career abroad. He holds a degree in Business administration from Bocconi University of Milan Magna Cum Laude.

Hélène Auriol Potier
Independent Director

• First appointed as a director on: May 20, 2022.
• Current term due to expire at the close of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2024.
• French national.

Hélène Auriol Potier built her career in the digital technologies and telecommunications industry in the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia. 

She started her career in New York at France Télécom in 1986. In 1990, she joined the Canadian mobile technology company Nortel Networks Corporation, where she spent sixteen years and held a range of senior leadership positions, including Vice-President Mobile Sales Division worldwide and then Vice-President Services & Operations EMEA. In 2006, she joined Dell Technologies Inc. as Managing Director Africa, Mediterranean and CEE. Then, during her ten years at Microsoft Corporation, Hélène Auriol Potier served in a number of executive roles, including CEO of Microsoft Singapore, Managing Director of Microsoft Dynamics Europe, and Managing Director of Artificial Intelligence Europe. From November 2018 to December 2020, she served as Executive Vice‑President International Business Unit for Orange, and was a member of the Executive Committee of Orange Business Services. She also held several positions as Director in Europe and in the United States. 

Hélène Auriol Potier received a Master of Science in Engineering from Telecom Paris and an Executive MBA from INSEAD. She is ESG Co-Chair at the Institut Français des Administrateurs (IFA), French institute of Directors.

Iliane Dumas
Director representing employees

• First appointed as a director on May 2, 2014.
• Current term due to expire on May 2, 2026.
• French national.
• Senior Project Manager Diversity, Equity & Inclusion - Accor Talent & Culture Department.

Iliane Dumas joined the Accor Group in 1991, where she was initially part of the sales team in the Distribution Department. She has held several employee representative positions, notably Representative of the Central Works Council on Accor’s Board of Directors. Iliane Dumas is currently Senior Project Manager Diversity, Equity & Inclusion within the Group’s Talent & Culture Department. She is also a member of the Appointments and Compensation Committee and a judge at the Paris Employment Tribunal. Iliane Dumas is a graduate of École de Paris des Métiers de la Table.

Qiong'Er Jiang
Independent director

• First appointed as a director on July 12, 2016.
• Current term due to expire at the close of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
• French national.
• Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director of Shang Xia.

Qiong’Er Jiang founded a number of design companies before setting up the Chinese subsidiary of Artcurial. In 2008, she teamed up with Hermès to create Shang Xia, China’s first luxury brand. In 2013 and 2016, respectively, she was awarded the titles of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres and Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by the French President. Qiong’Er Jiang is a graduate of the design school at Tongji University (China) and has also studied interior design and furniture design at École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris.

Anne-Laure Kiechel
Independent Director

• First appointed as a director on May 17, 2023.
• Current term due to expire at the close of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.
• French national.

Anne-Laure Kiechel started her career in 1999 at Lehman Brothers, initially working in capital markets. In 2007, she became Senior Banker in Paris for French companies, advising them on M&A and financing transactions. Then, she joined the investment bank Rothschild & Cie in the financing advisory team, advising companies in France and internationally on capital structure, rating and financing issues. She was appointed as managing partner of Rothschild & Cie in 2014, at which time she dedicated herself to the government advisory business. At the beginning of 2019, Anne-Laure Kiechel leaves Rothschild to create her independent structure: Global Sovereign Advisory.

Anne-Laure Kiechel was Chairwoman of the Campaign Committee of the Sorbonne University Foundation from 2020 to 2022. She has been a member of the United Nations Committee for Development Policy since 1st January 2022.

Anne-Laure Kiechel is a graduate of HEC and the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) and also holds a degree in mathematics.

Bruno Pavlovsky
Independent Director

• First appointed as a director on June 30, 2020.
• Current term due to expire at the close of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025.
• French national.

Bruno Pavlovsky began his career with Deloitte before joining Chanel in 1990. He is currently Chairman of Chanel SAS and Chanel’s President of Global Fashion. He is also Chairman of Chanel’s Métiers d’Art unit, Chairman of Eres, Chairman of Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, Chairman of the Comité Colbert’s Advocacy and Public Policy Commission, and a Director of Fondation de l’Institut Français de la Mode.

Bruno Pavlovsky is a graduate of the Bordeaux École supérieure de commerce and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.

Nicolas Sarkozy
Independent Director

• First appointed as a director on February 21, 2017.
• Current term due to expire at the close of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024.
• French national.
• Leader of the French political party Les Républicains from November 2014 to November 2016.

Nicolas Sarkozy was the President of the French Republic from 2007 to 2012. His previous positions include Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine (1983-2002), National Assembly Representative for Hauts-de-Seine (1988-2002), President of the General Council for Hauts-de-Seine (2004-2007), Minister for the Budget (1993-1995), Minister for Communications (1994-1995), Government spokesman (1993-1995), Minister of the Interior, Internal Security and Local Freedoms (2002-2004), Minister of State, Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry (2004), Minister of State, Minister of the Interior and Town and Country Planning (2005-2007). He was also the elected leader of French political parties UMP (2004-2007) and Les Républicains (2014-2016). A trained lawyer, Nicolas Sarkozy is married and has four children. He is the author of several books, including Libre, Témoignage, La France pour la Vie and Tout pour la France.

Christine Serre
Director representing employees

• First appointed as a director on January 27, 2021.
• Current term due to expire on January 27, 2024.
• French national.

A graduate of the Bordeaux Hotel School, Christine joined Accor in 1992 where she first held hotel operating functions and sales functions within the Distribution Department. She has held various positions as employee representative, in particular at the level of the European works council and the France Group works council. Christine is currently Project Manager within the Top Line Southern Europe Department.

Isabelle Simon
Independent Director

• First appointed as a director on July 12, 2016.
• Current term due to expire at the close of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
• French national.
• Group Secretary & General Counsel, member of the Executive Committee, Thales Group.

Isabelle Simon began her career in 1995 as a lawyer at law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, where she practiced in Paris and New York. In 2003, she became Executive Director of the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs. In 2009, she joined the Publicis Group as Senior Vice-President, heading the M&A and Legal Departments and managing the Group’s external development strategy and minority holdings. In 2011, Isabelle Simon became Senior Vice-President of Société des Bains de Mer de Monaco, where she headed the Real Estate, Marketing & Sales, Artistic, Communications and Legal Departments and was responsible for internal and external development operations. In 2015, she was appointed Group Secretary & General Counsel, and a member of the Executive Committee, of the Thales Group. Isabelle Simon is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris, HEC and Harvard Law School. She also holds a DEA postgraduate diploma in English and North American business law from Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and a DESS postgraduate diploma in international taxation from the Université Jean Monnet. She is also a qualified lawyer, and has been admitted to the Paris Bar and the New York Bar.

Sarmad Zok
Director

• First appointed as a director on: July 12, 2016.
• Current term due to expire at the close of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be called to approve the financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
• Lebanese and British national.
• CEO of Kingdom Hotel Investments and Non-Executive Board Director of Kingdom Holding Company.

Sarmad Zok is Chief Executive Officer of Kingdom Hotel Investments (UK ltd), and a non-executive director on the boards of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust plc and Kingdom Holding Company. In 2006, Mr. Zok led KHI on its initial public offering on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (the predecessor to NASDAQ Dubai) and the London Stock Exchange. Since a successful take-private he has headed KHI’s accomplished hotel investment management team in Dubai in managing an integrated luxury hospitality investment portfolio across the US, Europe and growth/developing markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In 2016, he successfully led the KHI team on the sale and merger of Fairmont Raffles with Accor. In his early career, Mr. Zok worked at HVS International and Hilton International. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Management from the University of Surrey and a Master of Arts in Property Valuation and Law from City University Business School in London.