| Laurent de Gourcuff | |
| Birth Place: | Neuilly-sur-Seine, France |
| Alma Mater: | European Business School Paris |
| Occupation: | Businessman |
| Chairman and CEO, Paris Society | |
Laurent de Gourcuff (born 1976 or 1977)[1] is a French businessman, the founder of the hospitality company Paris Society.
The de Gourcuffs are a Breton noble family, originally from Plovan.[2] Laurent de Gourcuff was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine;[3] his parents ran restaurants and organised events.[4] After hosting paying parties as a 16-year-old and admitting to cheating on his baccalauréat,[1] [5] he graduated from the European Business School Paris.[5]
His early career was as an owner of nightlife establishments. He started his first company, Octopussy, when he was 21,[6] and bought his first club, Les Planches, when he was 22. In 2008, he founded Groupe Noctis,[3] [7] which he expanded to include several restaurants and nightclubs in Paris, many in association with Gilles Malafosse.[1] His first restaurant was Monsieur Bleu, in the Palais de Tokyo, opened with Malafosse in 2013.[4] [8] He was one of a new generation of nightculb and restaurant entrepreneurs in Paris that also included and Jean-Philippe Cartier.[9] Despite having to sell several properties in the mid-2000s to pay €3 million in personal debts from a bad investment, he re-established his company holdings and diversified into event spaces and hosting.[5] [7]
, Noctis also had establishments in La Baule-Escoublac and Marseille and on Île de Ré.[7] In July 2017, Accor acquired a 31% share in the company;[10] in 2021 this was increased to 40.8%.[11] Noctis was subsequently renamed to Paris Society and became known for "eatertainment".[11] [12] [13] It has also expanded outside France, including Raspoutine in Miami (a branch of the Paris cabaret restaurant), Gigi in Dubai,[3] and properties in Los Angeles and London.[14] Many of de Gourcuff's restaurants offer views from elevated vantage points.[3] [15] In 2019, he transformed the former L'Opéra restaurant at the Palais Garnier opera house into CoCo,[16] a branch of which is scheduled to open in 2023 at the former Les Brotteaux station in Lyon.[17] In 2021, Paris Society partnered with the new owner to transform the 17th-century at Belle Île into a luxury hotel.[18] In the early 2020s Paris Society also extensively renovated the former Cistercian Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey. formerly a three-star hotel, into a multi-restaurant luxury hotel with interior design by Cordélia de Castellane.[3] [14] [19]
By 2017, de Gourcuff's rivalry with Patou, chairman of Moma Group, had become contentious;[20] the two agreed in 2019 to end the conflict.[21] Beginning in February 2021, de Gourcuff and others were investigated in connection with the granting of a restaurant licence at Longchamp Racecourse;[22] he was reportedly called in for further questioning in early December 2022.[23] In November 2022, Accor announced its purchase of the outstanding stock in Paris Society,[14] whose estimated revenue for that year was €250 million, with de Gourcuff to remain at its head.[24] In March 2023, de Gourcuff announced that Paris Society had been chosen to operate Maxim's and planned an extensive renovation,[25] which has been completed.[26]
De Gourcuff and Paris Society were found guilty of corrupt dealings in connection with the Longchamp restaurant licence, and in February 2024 he was given a suspended sentence of two years in prison, fined €150,000, and barred from managing a business for five years. His lawyers announced that he would appeal.[27] [28] [29]
De Gourcuff and his wife, Constance,[15] have three children.[4] He has a second residence in Eure.[1] [5] He is teetotal.[4] [6] [9]