| Bertrand Eveno | |
| Birth Date: | 1944 7, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Égletons, France |
| Occupation: | CEO of Agence France-Presse (2000-2005) |
| Alma Mater: | HEC Paris ENA |
Bertrand Eveno, born July 26, 1944, in Égletons (Corrèze), is a senior French civil servant and business leader, former president of Agence France-Presse from 2000 to 2005. He is the brother of historian Patrick Eveno.[1]
A former student of HEC Paris, top of the ENA (promotion "François Rabelais", 1973) and inspecteur général des finances, Bertrand Eveno, after a brief stint in ministerial offices, made most of his career in private industry and publishing.[2]
In 1976, he was the author with Simon Nora of a report on the policy of old housing.[3]
The same year, he was also one of the rapporteurs of the commission, chaired by Olivier Guichard, on the reform of local authorities (report "Living together").[4]
Until July 2000, he held various management positions within the CEP Communication group (publishing), formerly Groupe de la Cité: CEO of Nathan in 1986, CEO of Dunod-Dalloz-Masson, until CEO of Havas Éducation et Référence (which includes, in particular, Larousse, Nathan, Bordas, Le Robert), in 1996, before this group became Vivendi Universal Éducation France (VUEF), under the chairmanship of Agnès Touraine (also CEO of the Vivendi Universal Publishing branch).[5]
In July 2000, after his ouster from the Vivendi Universal group, Bertrand Eveno was elected president of Agence France-Presse (AFP).[6]
He had to deal with the bursting of the Internet bubble and very heavy losses in the financial information subsidiary AFX. He launched restructurings that were considered too late, but which nevertheless allowed a rapid return to operating balance for AFP and its development in the video business.
On November 17, 2005, he announced his resignation from AFP.[7]
In December of the same year, he joined a company directly competing with AFP in the photo sector, the Hachette Filipacchi Médias (HFM) group, as CEO of Hachette Filipacchi Photo, which brought together the Gamma, Rapho, Hoa-Qui and Keystone agencies.[8]
This operation raised ethical and competition issues, highlighted by AFP unions, especially since it occurred just a few months after a former HFM employee had taken over the AFP Photo department. Hachette Filipacchi Photos was bought out in December 2006 by the Green Recovery investment fund, which was associated with François Lochon in the photo agency buyout.[9]