Laurent de Gourcuff

Laurent de Gourcuff
Born
Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
EducationEuropean Business School Paris
OccupationBusinessman
TitleChairman and CEO, Paris Society
SpouseConstance de Gourcuff
Children3

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

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

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 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), 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 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][30]

In late 2024, de Gourcuff opened Baronne, a restaurant in the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild in Paris.[31] From July 2025, Accor began to divest itself of Paris Society's club holdings to de Gourcuff and other former Paris Society executives; he took a 70% share in the properties, with Pernod Ricard owning 30%.[32][33][34] In October 2025, he bought the Parisian restaurant Le Grand Véfour.[35] In November 2025 it was announced that in advance of the first hearing on his appeal, he had reached an agreement with the courts under which in exchange for pleading guilty and paying a €1m fine, his suspended sentence was reduced to one year, the ban on his managing businesses was lifted, and his criminal record was expunged.[36] In 2026, he partnered with Pierre-Antoine Capton and Xavier Niel to buy the Lily Wang, an Asian restaurant in Paris formerly owned by Niel.[37]

Personal life

De Gourcuff and his wife, Constance,[15] have three children,[4] Dimitri, Paloma and Léonard.[31] He has a second residence in Eure.[1][5] He is teetotal.[4][6][9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Parisiennes, Parisiens", Les Echos, 1 February 2018, archived from the original on 14 April 2022 (in French).
  2. ↑ "Généalogie de la famille de Gourcuff (Bretagne)". InfoBretagne (in French). Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 I. Duvantoux, "Laurent de Gourcuff, nouveau roi des restaurants branchés", Entreprendre, 28 November 2022, archived from the original on 26 January 2023 (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, archived from the original on 2 February 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, archived from the original on 2 February 2023 (in French).
  7. 1 2 3 Nathalie Villard, "Qui est ce roi des nuits parisiennes sur lequel AccorHotels mise gros?", Capital, 16 May 2017, archived from the original on 5 June 2022 (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, archived from the original on 2 February 2023 (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, archived from the original on 2 February 2023 (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, archived from the original on 2 February 2023.
  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, archived from the original on 8 March 2024.
  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, archived from the original on 14 April 2022 (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, archived from the original on 8 January 2023 (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, archived from the original on 1 October 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, archived from the original on 27 April 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, archived from the original on 21 February 2024.
  30. ↑ Gabe Ulla, "Paris Restaurant War? Hold My Foie Gras", Town & Country, 23 June 2024.
  31. 1 2 Laurent Guez, "Laurent de Gourcuff: 'La réussite d'un dîner découle souvent du mélange de générations'", Les Echos, 30 November 2024, archived from the original on 2 December 2024 (interview) (in French).
  32. ↑ Pauline Duvieu, "Accor sells Paris Society's festive pole to Laurent de Gourcuff and Pernod Ricard", Luxus Plus, 14 July 2025.
  33. ↑ "Paris Society: Laurent de Gourcuff and Pernod Ricard take the party back in hand", Paris Select Book, 17 July 2025.
  34. ↑ Philippe Vasset, "Sébastien Bazin sells second tranche of Paris Society assets", Glitz, 24 March 2026.
  35. ↑ Jean-François Arnaud, "Laurent de Gourcuff met la main sur Le Grand Véfour", Challenges, 17 October 2025 (in French).
  36. ↑ "Libéré de son interdiction de gérer après un accord judiciaire, Laurent de Gourcuff, 'le roi des nuits parisiennes', a désormais les mains libres pour le futur 5-étoiles à Menton", Nice-Matin, 11 November 2025 (in French).
  37. ↑ Jean-François Arnaud, "Niel, Capton et Gourcuff rachètent le Lily Wang, le restaurant parisien préféré des ministres, des grands patrons et des stars de la télé", Challenges, 9 June 2026 (in French).
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.