Publicis Groupe recruited Mr. Fleurot from Pearson to be the executive chairman of the Publicis network in 2006. He has a strong media background, having served as a former chief executive of Pearson’s Les Echos group, France’s leading business publisher. He is former CEO of the Financial Times Group, and from 1999 to 2003, he was managing director of the Financial Times newspaper. He began his career as an engineer on construction sites in Turkey, Iraq, Libya and the U.S. (Virginia) before moving into journalism. Publicis is in the top ten of Consolidated Agency Networks, and the company services such big names as Citi, HP, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Nestle, Sanofi-Aventis, Renault-Nissan, Axa, BNP Paribas, and Procter & Gamble through offices in more than 80 countries.
