Every year since 1993, the Entrepreneur of the Year award has honoured France’s highest-achieving business leaders. The award is designed to spotlight women and men of enterprise, with exceptional records, running independent companies that have achieved remarkable performances.

Besides the Entrepreneur of the Year prize itself, awards are given several other categories designed to honour bold ventures:

• the Innovation Prize
• the Social Commitment Prize
• the International Company Prize
• the Company of the Future Prize
• the Green Business Prize

Rewarding the spirit of enterprise

These prizes are a way to raise the profile of risk-taking entrepreneurs. More generally, they help to promote the spirit of enterprise, vital for a growing and dynamic economy. It is also an opportunity for company leaders to meet and share experiences.

The Bank’s teams work in partnership with entrepreneurs in Paris and the regions every day and take great interest in the debates of the selection juries for the candidates in the seven cities that nominate the 100 winners for the national final. They bring a constructive perspective to the task, thanks notably to their expertise in the area of family firms.

Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft Group, crowned Entrepreneur of the Year 2009.

The prize was presented by Hervé Novelli, Secretary of State, at a ceremony on 9th November at the Mogador Theatre in Paris.

Yves Guillemot is chairman and CEO of Ubisoft and one of the company’s co-founders (1986) along with his brothers Claude, Michel, Gérard and Christian.

The listed company is now Europe’s second-largest video game publisher and the world’s third-largest independent publisher.

Also honoured was Georges Dao of Cari, for his social commitment. The founder of the public works company received his award from Ariane de Rothschild, while François Drouin, chairman of Oseo, presented the prizes to Rodolphe and Edouard Carl, founders of the “Company of the Future”, Babilou, which specialises in crèches. Michel Cicurel, chairman of La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild, presented Charles Kloboukoff, chairman of Lea Nature Group (organic cosmetics), with the green business prize.

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Official Entrepreneur of the Year website (http://www.ey.com/FR/fr/About-us/Entrepreneur-Of-The-Year)