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Laurent de Gourcuff

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Laurent de Gourcuff
Born
Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Alma materEuropean 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.

Early life and education

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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

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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

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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]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "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. ^ a b c d e I. Duvantoux, "Laurent de Gourcuff, nouveau roi des restaurants branchés", Entreprendre, 28 November 2022 (in French).
  4. ^ a b c d Matthias Gurtler, "Laurent de Gourcuff: le fondateur de Paris Society nous ouvre les portes de ses restaurants", Gala, 20 January 2023 (in French).
  5. ^ a b c d Audrey Levy, "Laurent de Gourcuff, l'homme qui règne sur la nuit parisienne", Le Parisien, 13 July 2017 (in French).
  6. ^ a b Marine Normand, "Les grandes figures de la nuit: Laurent de Gourcuff", Villa Schweppes, 12 December 2013 (in French).
  7. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c "Paris Society, Accor's latest acquisition, is going global", TTG Media, 29 November 2022.
  15. ^ a b 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.
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