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Thomas Buberl

Major Career Roles:

  • Chief Executive Officer, AXA
  • Independent Director, IBM Corp.
  • Member, Supervisory Board, Bertelsmann Verwaltungsgesellschaft
  • Trustee, World Economic Forum

 

Other Career Highlights:

  • COO and CMDO, Winterthur Group
  • CEO, Zurich Insurance Group Switzerland
  • CEO, AXA Vericherung (Germany)
  • CEO, AXA Konzern AG
  • Consultant, Boston Consulting Group

Thomas Buberl has over 20 years of international senior-leadership experience as CEO and Chair, with deep industry knowledge within insurance as well as other sectors including technology, software and media.

 

Thomas has been CEO and Director of AXA since 2016. The renewal of his mandate for a further 4 years was approved by the Group’s shareholders’ meeting in 2022. He is an Independent Director for IBM Corp., a member of the Supervisory Board of Bertelsmann Verwaltungsgesellschaft, and a Trustee of the World Economic Forum. Thomas is also Venture Partner at Redalpine Venture Partners AG.

 

Thomas began his career as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group for the banking & insurance sector and joined the Winterthur Group in 2005 (acquired by AXA in 2006), first as Chief Operating Officer and then as Chief Marketing and Distribution Officer. He moved to Zurich Insurance Group in 2008 as Chief Executive Officer for Switzerland.

 

At the beginning of 2012, Thomas was appointed Chief Executive Officer of AXA Germany and member of the AXA Executive Committee. In 2015, he also joined the AXA Management Committee and became Chief Executive Officer of the global health business line and, in 2016, of the global life & savings business line.

 

A German, Swiss and French citizen, Thomas was born in 1973. He was named Knight of the French Legion of Honour in 2019.

 

Thomas holds a Master of Economics degree from WHU Koblenz (Germany), an MBA from Lancaster University (UK) and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of St Gallen (Switzerland).