Thierry Breton
French businessman and politician (born 1955)
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Key Takeaways
- Thierry Breton ( French pronunciation: [tjɛʁi bʁətɔ̃] ; born 15 January 1955) is a French business executive, politician, and writer who served as European Commissioner for Internal Market in the first von der Leyen Commission from 2019 to 2024.
- In 2005, he entered politics, serving as minister for economy, finance and industry (2005–2007) in the governments of prime ministers Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Dominique de Villepin, during the presidency of Jacques Chirac.
- Breton resigned from the position in 2024.
- assets are frozen, and Breton is persona non grata in the United States of America, thus forbidden to enter the Territories of the United States by the Trump administration, "over what it said was 'censorship' and coercion of US social media platforms".
Thierry Breton (French pronunciation: [tjɛʁi bʁətɔ̃]; born 15 January 1955) is a French business executive, politician, and writer who served as European Commissioner for Internal Market in the first von der Leyen Commission from 2019 to 2024. Breton was vice-chairman and CEO of Groupe Bull (1996–1997), chairman and CEO of Thomson-RCA (1997–2002) and chairman and CEO of France Télécom (2002–2005). In 2005, he entered politics, serving as minister for economy, finance and industry (2005–2007) in the governments of prime ministers Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Dominique de Villepin, during the presidency of Jacques Chirac. From 2007 to 2008 he was a professor at Harvard Business School, before joining group Atos from 2009 to 2019 as its CEO.
From 2019, Breton served as the European Commissioner for Internal Market under the presidency of Ursula von der Leyen, an appointment that met with controversy, as he was considered by anti-corruption association Anticor to be at serious risk of conflicts of interest over his previous posts at France Télécom and Atos. Breton resigned from the position in 2024.
On 23 December 2025, United States Secretary of state Marco Rubio sanctioned Breton, who masterminded the European Union Digital Services Act. Breton's U.S. assets are frozen, and Breton is persona non grata in the United States of America, thus forbidden to enter the Territories of the United States by the Trump administration, "over what it said was 'censorship' and coercion of US social media platforms".
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