Stéphane Richard

In late 2021, Richard announced his intention to stay in his position for a fourth term after his mandate ends in May 2022. When he was given a one year-suspended prison sentence in a fraud case in France unconnected to the company, he handed in his resignation in November 2021.

In November 2021, he was sentenced for complicity in fraud and misuse of public funds in the Crédit Lyonnais arbitration case and he announced that he resigns from his position as CEO of Orange S.A.

In June 2021, a French prosecutor proposed penalties similar to the ones pronounced two years earlier.

In June 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in France, Richard came under political pressure after a network outage at Orange prevented emergency calls for several hours. He was summoned by Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, who called the disruption "serious and unacceptable."

On 5 January 2016 Partner officially announced that it is severing ties with France's Orange and is receiving €90 million compensation from Orange for Richard's comments.

In June 2015, Richard said in Egypt that he would like to withdraw the Orange brand from Israel as soon as possible, but that the move would take time. “Our intention is to withdraw from Israel. It will take time” but “for sure we will do it,” he said. “I am ready to do this tomorrow morning… but without exposing Orange to huge risks.”

Richard joined Orange in September 2009, becoming Deputy Chief Executive. He was appointed Chief Executive of Orange S.A. on 1 March 2011. In 2019, Orange voted to renew his mandate. A popular chief executive, Richard is credited with improving revenues and market share in the competitive French telecoms market and restoring relations with unions after a spate of suicides shook the company.

From 2007 until 2009 Richard was Chief of Staff to Christine Lagarde, then French Minister for the Economy, Industry, and Employment.

In 2007 news media reported rumors of an imminent arrest warrant for tax fraud. By early 2019, French state prosecutors called for Richard to be sentenced to three years in jail — with half the time suspended — as well as a €100,000 fine and a five-year ban on any work for the state. Richard denied the allegations, saying he was doing his job and only played a secondary role in an arbitration process in which businessman Bernard Tapie was awarded 403 million euros ($491.62 million) as part of a state-funded settlement. The trial ended with Richard being cleared of any wrongdoing.

Richard was awarded the Legion of Honour (Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur) in 2006.

Richard made his fortune from his involvement in the leveraged buyout of Nexity, a property development subsidiary of Compagnie Générale des Eaux, the group he joined in 1992.

Stéphane Richard (born 24 August 1961) is a French businessman who has been serving as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the worldwide mobile phone network Orange since 2011. In December 2021, he resigned as both chairman and chief executive of the group and he will be replaced by January 31, 2022.

The son of a mining engineer and grandson of a shepherd, Richard was born in Caudéran in the Gironde department in Aquitaine (South-West France), on 24 August 1961. He studied at HEC Paris and École nationale d'administration in Strasbourg.