Laurence Parisot is the head of the French MEDEF employers' union since the 5 July 2005. She also directs the SOFRES poll institute.

She became the 276th wealthiest French person after she inherited the Parisot group (first furnishing retail group in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

).

She is single and has no children.

She was awarded the Ordre national du Mérite

Ordre National du Mérite

The Ordre national du Mérite is an Order of State awarded by the President of the French Republic. It was founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle...

.

Early life

Her father and grandfather Jacques Parisot (who set up the business) led the Parisot group, an unquoted furnishing retail company.

She studied Law in Nancy University and then entered the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris. In 1986, she was nominated director of the Louis Harris Institute poll. Since 1990, she has been chief executive of the IFOP poll institute after she bought 75% of its capital. She has also been a member of BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas S.A. is a global banking group, headquartered in Paris, with its second global headquarters in London. In October 2010 BNP Paribas was ranked by Bloomberg and Forbes as the largest bank and largest company in the world by assets with over $3.1 trillion. It was formed through the merger...

 board since 1990.

Head of the MEDEF

In 2003, she entered the MEDEF executive board.

On July 5, 2005, she replaced Ernest-Antoine Seillière

Ernest-Antoine Seillière

Ernest-Antoine Seillière de Laborde, born 20 December 1937 in Neuilly-sur-Seine is an entrepreneur and the heir to the Wendel empire ....

 as head of the organisation.

She declared that she intended to fight against unemployment and put the “enterprise at the center of French society”. She added that she would work very hard to push French MPs to adopt a more liberal labour legislation.

Quotations

“Life, health and even love are precarious. So, why shouldn’t work abide by this [natural] law?” Le Figaro

Le Figaro

Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...

, August 30, 2005

“Precariousness is part of human condition.”, France Inter

France Inter

France Inter is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a "generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and intelligent spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, liberally punctuated with an eclectic mix of...

, September 3, 2005

“We will hire more people if it’s made easier to fire them.”, Le Monde

Le Monde

Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...

, August 29, 2007.