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Frédéric Jousset

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Frédéric Jousset
Jousset in 2015
Born (1970-05-03) 3 May 1970 (age 54)
EducationHEC Paris
Occupation(s)Businessperson
Philanthropist
Known forCo-founder of Webhelp

Frédéric Jousset (born 3 May 1970) is a French entrepreneur and philanthropist. He co-founded Webhelp in 2000 and sold it to Concentrix in 2023 on a $4.8 billion valuation.[1] Patron of the arts, he created the foundation Art Explora and its investing arm ArtNova in 2019.[2]

Early life

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Jousset is the son of Marie-Laure Jousset, Chief Curator at Beaubourg, and Hubert Jousset, President of the GEFIP and the École normale de musique. Jousset graduated from HEC in 1992. During his military service, he was second lieutenant for the 6th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment.[3] He is the brother of the journalist Alexandra Jousset.

Career

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Jousset began his career in 1994 for Kérastase, a division of L'Oréal.[3] In 1998, he founded his first company, Clientis SA, a software publisher for beauty salons. He then joined the American strategy consulting firm Bain & Company where he worked as a strategy consultant.[4] In June 2000, he co-founded Webhelp SA with Olivier Duha, initially offering IT support services and later expanding into operating call centers and outsourcing business services.[5]

In 2014, Jousset obtained a 50-year concession for the Relais de Chambord hotel located in front of the Château de Chambord. He called upon the architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte for the complete renovation. The hotel reopened in March 2018 with 55 rooms, suites, and a gourmet restaurant.[6] Frédéric Jousset bought Beaux Arts Magazine in 2016[7] and Le Quotidien de l'art in 2017.[8] In 2018, the Minister of Culture Françoise Nyssen entrusted him with the steering of the working group linked to the culture pass for young people.[9]

In 2020, he stepped down from his executive position at Webhelp, but remained vice-president of the board.[2] In 2023, he sold Webhelp to Concentrix in a deal that valued his company at $4.8 billion.[1] In 2024, his holding Compagnie Financière Jousset took over the waterproofing manufacturer Smac.[10]

Art patronage

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A patron of the Musée du Louvre, Frédéric Jousset became a member of the museum's patronage council, and a member of the Acquisitions Commission of the Musée du Louvre from 2007 to 2014.[11] Through Webhelp, he contributed to the acquisition of Poussin's "The Flight Into Egypt".[12] From 2016 to 2023, he was administrator of the Musée du Louvre by decree of the Minister of Culture.[13]

In 2019, Jousset launched the foundation Art Explora with the goal to open up the world of art to a wider audience. He also launched ArtNova, a 100-million euros fund to invest in the cultural ecosystem, with a special interest in art tech. ArtNova's profits finance the projects and programs of the Art Explora foundation.[2] Jousset's previous investments (Beaux Arts Magazine, Le Quotidien de l'Art, Les Relais de Chambord) were consolidated within ArtNova's portfolio.[14]

In 2021, Jousset announced the construction of a super-large catamaran, the first museum-boat to sail the oceans. A small model of the ship was on exhibit in the France Pavilion during the Expo 2020 in Dubai.[15] The ship - a 47.7-meter wide and 56-meter high catamaran named Art Explorer - was moored in March 2024 in Venice during the 60th Venice Biennale.[16]

The Art Explora & Académie des Beaux-Arts European Prize was launched in 2020 to support innovative cultural programs (150,000 euros awarded annually).[17] Art Explora launched an arts residency program in 2021 in Paris,[18] and financed several mobile museum programs in partnership with the Centre Pompidou in France[19] and the Tate in the UK.[20] In 2023, the foundation inaugurated the Y Hangar, the earliest surviving airship hangar in the world that was transformed into a contemporary art center.[21]

Other roles

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Distinctions

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Concentrix looks beyond North America with $4.8 bln deal for Wbhelp". Reuters. 29 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "A French Tech Entrepreneur Has Seeded a $119 Million Investment Fund for Startups Expanding Access to Culture". Artnet News. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b c N'Kaoua, Laurance (29 June 2016). "Frédéric Jousset, l'art d'entreprendre". Les Echos (in French). Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  4. ^ "ENTREPRENEURS PASSIONNES". relationclientmag.fr/ (in French). December 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  5. ^ à 07h00, Le 11 juillet 2010 (11 July 2010). "Frédéric Jousset : "Nous continuons à créer des emplois en France"". leparisien.fr (in French). Retrieved 2 March 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Univers. La renaissance du Relais de Chambord". Point de Vue (in French). 1 May 2018. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Beaux Arts Magazine change de mains". Les Echos (in French). 9 May 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Médias : le Quotidien de l'Art change de formule et lance son hebdo". L'ADN (in French). 25 January 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Frédéric Jousset, l'homme qui conduit le Pass culture". 30 June 2018.
  10. ^ (French) Olivier Ubertalli, BTP : le spécialiste de l’étanchéité Smac repasse sous pavillon français, Le Point, 25 April 2024
  11. ^ "Frédéric Jousset ou l'amour de l'art". Les Echos (in French). 26 July 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Frédéric Jousset nommé président du conseil d'administration de l'Ecole nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts". Connaissance des Arts (in French). 27 September 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  13. ^ Scanvic, Jeanne (8 March 2023). "Emmanuel Faber et Eric Lombard nommés au conseil d'administration du musée du Louvre". Espace presse du musée du Louvre (in French). Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Frédéric Jousset : « Je veux élargir les publics de la culture »". Le Monde.fr (in French). 22 October 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  15. ^ "French art foundation unveils plans for mobile museum on board a €32m catamaran". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  16. ^ Dalley, Jan (22 March 2024). "Philanthropist Frédéric Jousset is improving access to art — by land and by sea". www.ft.com. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  17. ^ "French tech entrepreneur funds new €150,000 award for European cultural institutions focused on 'digital and environmental impact'". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Art Explora x Cité internationale des Arts Residency 2024". www.transartists.org. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  19. ^ "MuMo x Centre Pompidou: a travelling museum in Centre-Val de Loire". www.culture.gouv.fr. 27 October 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  20. ^ Brown, Mark (22 February 2023). "Fostering curiosity: the Tate brings great art to the people of Merseyside". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  21. ^ Bureau, Olivier (12 March 2024). "160 000 visiteurs et près d'une centaine d'événements : à Meudon, le hangar Y souffle sa première bougie". leparisien.fr (in French). Retrieved 5 June 2024. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  22. ^ "Gouvernance | HEC Alumni". hecalumni.fr (in French). Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  23. ^ "Assemblée générale 2021". HEC Stories (in French). 26 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  24. ^ "Frédéric Jousset - Nominations au Journal officiel de la République française". jorfsearch.steinertriples.fr. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  25. ^ "Les Grands Donateurs de la Culture". www.culture.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Olivier Duha et Frédéric Jousset,"Managers de l'année"". Le nouvel Economiste (in French). 19 December 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  27. ^ "Le co-fondateur de Webhelp acquiert Beaux Arts Magazine pour 5 M€". Capital Finance (in French). 10 May 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  28. ^ "Décret du 31 décembre 2018 portant promotion et nomination" (PDF). Legiondhonneur.fr (in French). 1 January 2019.
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