Industry icon Denis Kessler passes at 71, SCOR pays tribute

SCOR chairman  Denis Kessler has passed away aged 71. He was an industry icon, and highly renowned in the French business world. Kessler had been chairman and chief executive officer of SCOR since 2002.

“It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing of Denis Kessler on June 9, 2023, at the age of 71,” SCOR said in a statement.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Denis Kessler, with whom we have been fortunate enough to work for many years,” the company’s directors said. “He was an exceptional individual, with visionary leadership and incredible intelligence. We have lost a friend. We salute the memory of a great man and an extraordinary leader, who was passionate about the insurance and reinsurance industries, their techniques, their values and their philosophy.

“Denis has made a tremendous contribution to SCOR’s development over the past 21 years, and more widely to public debate on major contemporary economic and social policy issues. He has left a profound imprint on the Group, with the double hallmark of high standards and excellence, which the teams he built will perpetuate. To his family and friends, our company expresses its deepest sympathy, gratitude and support.”

Kessler took on the position of chairman and CEO at SCOR in 2002, rapidly elevating the company to a leading player in the reinsurance industry. On June 30, 2021, he transitioned to the role of non-executive chairman of SCOR.

Thierry Léger, chief executive officer of SCOR, commented: “Over the past two decades, Denis Kessler has been the architect behind SCOR’s success and reputation throughout the world. His passion for reinsurance was unparalleled, and his ambition to make SCOR an industry leader never left him. It has been the driving force behind all his actions at the head of the Group over the past 21 years. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to work alongside Denis. He leaves us an extraordinary legacy. It is now up to us to carry on his work. The strong foundations on which he rebuilt the Group enable us to look to the future with total confidence.”

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