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, 2022.
• German national.
• President of WarnerMedia France, Germany, Benelux, Austria & Switzerland.

Iris Knobloch is President of WarnerMedia France, Germany, Benelux, Austria & Switzerland. She is responsible for developing and implementing WarnerMedia’s strategy and coordinating all of the Group’s sales and marketing activities in the region. This includes theatrical distribution, local theatrical production, TV and SVOD content distribution, video and video game distribution, consumer products, and distribution of WarnerMedia’s channels and services as well as the related ad revenue. Iris Knobloch previously served as Senior Vice-President at Time Warner, where she was in charge of International Relations and Strategy for Europe. In 2006, she was named President of Warner Bros Entertainment France. Since 1996, she has held various positions at Warner in Los Angeles, London and Paris.

Iris Knobloch is trilingual in French, German and English. She has a J.D. degree from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich in 1987 and an LL.M. degree from New York University in 1992.

Iris Knobloch is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Accor group, a member of the Board of Directors of LVMH and Lazard Ltd and Governor of the American Hospital in Paris. 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, 2023.
• French national.
• Social innovation project manager within the Group’s 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 social innovation project manager within the Group’s Talent & Culture Department. She is also a member of the Appointments, Compensation & CSR 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.

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, 2022.
• French national.
• Chairman of Chanel SAS and Chanel’s President of Global Fashion.

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 President of Chanel’s Métiers d’Art unit, Chairman of Eres, Vice Chairman of Chambre Syndicale de la Mode Féminine, Chairman of the Comité Colbert’s Commission Influence et Politiques Publiques and Chairman of Fondation de l’Institut Français de la Mode. Bruno Pavlovsky is a graduate of the Bordeaux Ecole Supérieure de Commerce and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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.