Maurice Lévy

After leaving the operational leadership of Publicis, Maurice Lévy became chair of the supervisory board. In 2018, Proxinvest criticised his remuneration for that position, particularly fixed pay of €1.041 million for five months, equivalent to approximately €2.5 million annually, considered very high for a non-executive chair.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

In 2016, Élisabeth Badinter, then Publicis's largest individual shareholder and chair of its supervisory board, said she had discovered with unease that a group entity had worked for the Saudi authorities. She publicly questioned the contradiction between the group's stated values and communications work for a regime criticised over women's rights and freedoms.

State of the evidence

Documented

Following the failure of the Omnicom merger, Publicis announced the acquisition of Sapient for approximately $3.7 billion. The offer represented a premium of approximately 44 % over the previous share price and prompted analysts to question the price paid and the scale of the gamble to accelerate into digital services and technology consulting.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Publicis paid Maurice Lévy approximately €16 million in deferred remuneration accumulated under a long-term scheme. The amount triggered considerable political and social controversy. Employees and trade union representatives also alleged that managers had pressured them to publicly support their boss, which management denied.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

According to the judicial account published by Le Monde, Maurice Lévy contacted Stephen Norman at Renault in late 2008 or early 2009 and passed on information alleging that a marketing executive, Christian Clogenson, was receiving bribes. An internal investigation then concluded that Clogenson was guilty, and he was dismissed in November 2009. Three years later, he was reinstated after it emerged that the original source of the allegation was erroneous.

State of the evidence

Alleged

In 1988, Maurice Lévy committed Publicis to an international alliance with the American FCB network to accelerate the group's global expansion. Relations deteriorated sharply with FCB's new management, culminating in an acrimonious split described in Publicis's official history as painful and marked by surveillance methods attributed to the other party.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Direct responsibility