PMI Names New Senior Vice President External Affairs

Philip Morris International (PMI) has appointed Gregoire Verdeaux as senior vice president of external affairs effective Sept. 1, 2020. Verdeaux will report to the company’s CEO, Andre Calantzopoulos.

“Gregoire’s range of experiences—from working for national and EU parliaments and governments, the UN, WHO [World Health Organization] as well as private companies undergoing significant transformation—has given him a unique understanding of how political decisions are made,” said Calantzopoulos. “This makes him an ideal candidate to join us at PMI and help adapt the regulatory environment applicable to reduced-risk products as we continue our transformation to a smoke-free company.”

Verdeaux joins PMI from Hering Schuppener where he was a partner. Prior to that, he served as group international policy director at Vodafone. Prior to Vodafone, he served as European policy director at Electricite De France. He also served at the local level as deputy head of the cabinet of the French president, as administrator to the French senate and cabinet adviser to the minister of foreign affairs and to the European Commission. Additionally, he held the positions of director of strategy and finance at Unitaid for the WHO and manager in the United Nations Development Program.

Verdeaux holds degrees from Universite D’Auvergne, the University of Oklahoma and Sciences Po.

His appointment follows the previous announcement of long-serving executive Marc Firestone’s intention to retire from the dual roles of president of external affairs and general counsel and the appointment of Suzanne Rich Folsom as senior vice president and general counsel.