How Did Macron End Up Leading the Pfizer-Nestlé Deal at Rothschild?
Hey guys,
Quick question that’s been bugging me for a while.
Emmanuel Macron didn’t have a strong technical background — he failed twice to get into École Normale Supérieure, wasn’t top of his class at ENA (the French grande école for civil servants), and came from Sciences Po, which isn’t a core target for high finance. In the French banking world, especially M&A, there’s a strong dominance of engineers from École Polytechnique (aka “X”) and other hard science grandes écoles.
Yet somehow, Macron landed a key role at Rothschild & Cie and ended up leading one of the most high-profile deals in France: the $12B Nestlé–Pfizer baby formula transaction. That deal made his name in business and set the stage for his political career.
How does someone with that kind of profile break into such a selective and technical environment — and rise that fast? Pure political connections?
Would love to hear insights from people familiar with French elite networks or Paris boutique hiring.
Connections, that's it. He didn't even understand IB concepts when he started. It's all about connections.
what's this obsession of the French with prestige god
no one cares about all of this if my connections are x5 stronger than yours, you're not doing homework all your life, you're doing business which has a total different expectations/requirements to succeed
Something to do with in france everyone takes a big high school exam, and everyone is ranked nationally. And then the top ranked universities only take the top ranked people from the exam (i.e #1 takes first 1000 people etc), and then the top ranked government graduate posts (which are actually prestigious there and have good exits) only take the top ranked people from the top ranked universities. Its not like the US where people are selected if they started a non-profit teaching the trombone to orphans in Ghana
Connections and charisma get you pretty far in life, he has both in massive spades. It's a sales business and whether you like him or not, anyone who manages to become the leader of a country of 50MM+ is an elite salesperson.
Idk man seems like 99% of politicians in the UK are genuinely average IQ
I am not sure IQ is too heavily correlated with EQ, charm, or sales ability. IB at the senior level isn't an IQ job but an EQ one. He was also elected president in direct vote as opposed to political party leader meaning he had to directly win the votes of millions. That's a skillset that inherently requires likability, charm, and high EQ.
Dude went to Henri IV, Sciences Po, ENA (ranked #5 of class which is not bad even though it's not top), did Inspection des Finances. He didn't start at Rothschild as an analyst, he was hired for his network. Just read his wikipedia page.
There's no strong dominance of X alums in French M&A, that's BS. It's mostly business schools, a few engineers, and a sprinkle of Sciences Po grads.
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/you-do-not-need-to-know-what-ebitda-is
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/how-did-macron-become-an-md-and-partner-at-rothschild-so-quickly
isn't Henri IV like a super target HS in france
Who gives a fuck, I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know what is a DCF or how to use Excel. The dude has top tier connections and can bring business like no one
legit lmao
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