‘Be creative and think out of the box, remain rigorous and business oriented without being too risk adverse, rely on your team which is your best asset in any case [and] develop and encourage your collaborators’, says David Zeitoun, a professional with a career track record of support to notable organisations in a range of in-house legal roles. In 2007 he was appointed to his current role of group general counsel of Unibail-Rodamco, in the aftermath of the successful merger of the two companies.

During his long tenure at the company there are a number of outstanding achievements he has been at the forefront of; including the ongoing high-profile acquisition of Australian shopping centre company Westfield Group worth US$24.7bn, an NEO project in Brussels – the most important retail development project in Belgium worth €1bn, the USQ project in Hamburg – a mixed development project also worth €1bn – as well as the Mall of Scandinavian Development Arbitration in Sweden. The prestige of these deals require Zeitoun’s advice to have been flexible and fast-moving, earning him deserved praise from peers within the industry.