Laurent de Gourcuff

Last updated
Laurent de Gourcuff
Born
Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Alma mater European Business School Paris
OccupationBusinessman
TitleChairman and CEO, Paris Society

Laurent de Gourcuff (born 1976 or 1977) [1] is a French businessman, the founder of the hospitality company Paris Society.

Contents

Early life and education

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]

Career

Le Raspoutine, a Paris cabaret-restaurant in de Gourcuff's holdings Entree du Cabaret-restaurant le Raspoutine.JPG
Le Raspoutine, a Paris cabaret-restaurant in de Gourcuff's holdings

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 Benjamin Patou  [ fr ] 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]

As of May 2017, 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 Le Raspoutine  [ fr ]), 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 citadel  [ fr ] 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]

Personal life

De Gourcuff and his wife, Constance, [15] have three children [4] , Dimitri, Paloma and Léonard [30] . He has a second residence in Eure. [1] [5] He is teetotal. [4] [6] [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lugné-Poe</span> French actor and director

Aurélien-Marie Lugné, known by his stage and pen name Lugné-Poe, was a French actor, theatre director, and scenic designer. He founded the landmark Paris theatre company, the Théâtre de l'Œuvre, which produced experimental work by French Symbolist writers and painters at the end of the nineteenth century. Like his contemporary, theatre pioneer André Antoine, he gave the French premieres of works by the leading Scandinavian playwrights Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg, and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.

Accor S.A. is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties. It is the largest hospitality company in Europe, and the sixth largest hospitality company worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pullman Paris Montparnasse Hotel</span> Skyscraper hotel in France

The Pullman Paris Montparnasse Hotel is a skyscraper hotel in the Montparnasse quarter, in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is part of the Vandamme Nord mixed use complex, which is currently known by the commercial name Les Ateliers Gaîté. With 957 rooms, it is the third-largest hotel in Paris after the Le Méridien Étoile and the Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile, and one of the French capital's major convention venues.

Laurent Pelly is a French opera and theatre director. He is sought after by the world's most prestigious houses. With a natural affinity for Italian and French repertoire, his creative curiosity has also led him towards other composers, including Russian and Czech. He brings theatrical insight to his work with singers and his concepts often contain surreal invention and a dark sense of humour. A master of detail, he underlines his interpretation of characters through skilful and inspired costume designs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcel L'Herbier</span> French film director (1888–1979)

Marcel L'Herbier was a French filmmaker who achieved prominence as an avant-garde theorist and imaginative practitioner with a series of silent films in the 1920s. His career as a director continued until the 1950s and he made more than 40 feature films in total. During the 1950s and 1960s, he worked on cultural programmes for French television. He also fulfilled many administrative roles in the French film industry, and he was the founder and the first President of the French film school Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurent Gaudé</span> French writer (born 1972)

Laurent Gaudé is a French writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hôtel de Bourgogne (theatre)</span>

Hôtel de Bourgogne was a theatre, built in 1548 for the first authorized theatre troupe in Paris, the Confrérie de la Passion. It was located on the rue Mauconseil, on a site that had been part of the residence of the Dukes of Burgundy. The most important French theatre until the 1630s, it continued to be used until 1783, after which it was converted to a leather market and eventually totally demolished.

Michel Host was a French writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-François Berthelier</span> French opera singer

Jean-François-Philibert Berthelier was a French actor and singer, who performed many light tenor roles in opéra-comique and opéra-bouffe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annick Alane</span> French actress (1925–2019)

Annick Alane was a French film, television, and theatre actress from Carnac.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Wolff (journalist)</span> French writer, dramatist, journalist and art critic

Albert Abraham Wolff, was a French writer, dramatist, journalist, and art critic who was born in Germany.

Armand Lapointe was a French novelist, journalist and playwright. He also wrote the libretto of the opérette bouffe Mesdames de la Halle by Jacques Offenbach.

Léon Beauvallet, full name Pierre-Léon-Charles Beauvallet, was a 19th-century French actor, playwright and novelist.

Eugène Gaston Mestépès was a 19th-century French librettist, playwright and theatre director.

Frédéric Barbier was a 19th-century French composer.

Marie-Armelle Deguy is a French actress, the daughter of poet and essayist Michel Deguy.

Pierre Chavot is a French author, historian and teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philibert Audebrand</span> French writer and journalist (1815–1906)

Philibert Audebrand was a French writer, journalist, author of medieval chronicles, satirical verses and historical novels. In Mémoires d'un passant, he dedicated a tasty portrait to Bernard-François Balssa, Honoré de Balzac's father whom he considers as a prodigious person.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Van Ghell</span>

Anna Van Ghell was a Belgian singer who starred in numerous operettas in Paris. She was called Anna Vanghel or Vanghell in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Baltimore</span> French footballer (born 2000)

Sandy Madeleine Baltimore is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Chelsea and the France national team.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Parisiennes, Parisiens", Les Echos , 1 February 2018 (in French)
  2. ↑ "Généalogie de la famille de Gourcuff (Bretagne)". InfoBretagne (in French). Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 I. Duvantoux, "Laurent de Gourcuff, nouveau roi des restaurants branchés", Entreprendre, 28 November 2022 (in French).
  4. 1 2 3 4 Matthias Gurtler, "Laurent de Gourcuff: le fondateur de Paris Society nous ouvre les portes de ses restaurants", Gala, 20 January 2023 (in French).
  5. 1 2 3 4 Audrey Levy, "Laurent de Gourcuff, l'homme qui règne sur la nuit parisienne", Le Parisien , 13 July 2017 (in French).
  6. 1 2 Marine Normand, "Les grandes figures de la nuit: Laurent de Gourcuff", Villa Schweppes, 12 December 2013 (in French).
  7. 1 2 3 Nathalie Villard, "Qui est ce roi des nuits parisiennes sur lequel AccorHotels mise gros?", Capital, 16 May 2017 (in French).
  8. ↑ Natasha Fraser Cavassoni, "Monsieur Bleu", AnOther, 27 June 2013.
  9. 1 2 Denis Cosnard, "La nuit leur appartient", Le Monde , 3 May 2012 (in French).
  10. ↑ Claude Soula, "Comment Laurent de Gourcuff, roi de la fête à Paris, étend son empire", L'Obs , 6 July 2017, updated 9 July 2017 (in French).
  11. 1 2 Nadine Bayle, "Comment Paris Society a misé sur l''eatertainment' de luxe et une cuisine instagrammable", Le Monde, 27 June 2022 (in French).
  12. ↑ Dominique Busso, "Laurent De Gourcuff 'Nous Réinventons L'Hospitality En Créant De Nouvelles Expériences'" (interview), Forbes , 8 March 2019 (in French).
  13. ↑ Christel Brion and Boris Manenti, "'On ne va plus au restaurant pour manger!'", L'Obs, 29 April 2022, updated 18 May 2022 (in French).
  14. 1 2 3 "Paris Society, Accor's latest acquisition, is going global", TTG Media, 29 November 2022.
  15. 1 2 Loïc Grasset, "Laurent de Gourcuff: tout Paris à ses pieds", Paris Match , 18 August 2022 (in French).
  16. ↑ Gay Gassmann, "Palais Garnier Unveils Coco, a Paris Dining Destination Designed by Newcomer Corinne Sachot", Architectural Digest , 21 May 2019.
  17. ↑ Cheyenne Gabrelle, "Lyon: le restaurant CoCo ouvre cet été dans la gare des Brotteaux", Lyon Capitale, 24 January 2023 (in French).
  18. ↑ "La citadelle Vauban de Belle-Île transformée en hôtel de luxe", API, 23 June 2021 (in French).
  19. ↑ Alice Cavanagh, "The splendid reinvention of Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay", HTSI, Financial Times , 7 November 2023.
  20. ↑ Ghislain de Montalembert, "Moma Group VS Noctis, les rois de la fête", Le Figaro , 23 June 2017 (in French).
  21. ↑ Jean-François Arnaud, "Qui est vraiment Benjamin Patou, patron de Moma Group et roi de la restauration parisienne?", Challenges , 24 September 2022 (in French).
  22. ↑ Halim Bouakkaz, "Hippodrome de Longchamp: mises en examen, Rothschild entendu par la police", Le Parisien, 2 February 2021, updated 3 February 2021 (in French).
  23. ↑ Thierry Mestayer, "Laurent de Gourcuff, le roi de la restauration chic, est renvoyé devant le tribunal pour trafic d'influence", L'Informé, 2 December 2022 (in French).
  24. ↑ Martine Robert, "Repris par Accor, Paris Society veut développer ses lieux branchés dans le monde", Les Echos, 16 November 2022 (in French).
  25. ↑ Mathilde Visseyrias, "Paris Society veut faire revivre Maxim's comme à la Belle époque", Le Figaro, 29 March 2023 (in French).
  26. ↑ Ajesh Patalay, "Maxim's revisited", HTSI, Financial Times, 18 December 2023.
  27. ↑ "Laurent de Gourcuff, fondateur du groupe Paris Society, condamné à deux ans de prison avec sursis pour corruption active", Le Monde, 8 February 2024 (in French).
  28. ↑ Jean-François Arnaud, "Laurent de Gourcuff et Paris Society sévèrement condamnés pour corruption", Challenges, 8 February 2024 (in French).
  29. ↑ AFP, "Paris 'nightlife king' fined for bribery", The Local France, 8 February 2024.
  30. ↑ Guez, Laurent (30 November 2024). "Laurent de Gourcuff : « La réussite d'un dîner découle souvent du mélange de générations »".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.