Lagardère Group‘s Eric Thomas is a formidable corporate leader with substantial experience of managing legal processes at some of the largest organisations in France. He started his professional career in 1981 as an international tax specialist at Groupe Total and following a subsequent tenure at the French automotive business Matra joined Lagardère Group for the first time in 1986 as a director of international legal affairs.

Two years later Thomas returned to Matra to serve as a legal director for a year before being hired by aircraft manufacturer EADS (now Airbus) to manage its legal department. Then, following two highly successful stints in charge of the legal departments at Rexel (2004-2006) and Thales Group (2006-2012), Thomas was rehired by Lagardère Group, where he has served as a general counsel ever since. A lawyer widely recognised for his ability to apply his extensive knowledge of various areas of the law in different industry sectors, Thomas has achieved operational improvements and business transformation in each of his past positions.