Gilles Grapinet

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Gilles Grapinet, born July 3, 1963, in Aix-en-Provence, is a French public servant turned businessman. He studied at Prytanee National Militaire de La Flèche, earned a master’s degree in public law from the University of Aix-Marseille, and joined the École nationale d’administration (ENA) in 1990, graduating in 1992.

After ENA, Grapinet became French Inspecteur Général des Finances and worked in the Tax Directorate, focusing on management control, strategy, and IT. He led the Copernic program (2000–2002) to reform IT for tax activities. In 2003 he joined the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin as an advisor for economic and financial affairs, and in 2004 he became chief of staff to the Minister of Economy Hervé Gaymard, a role he kept after Gaymard’s resignation. He served as chief of staff to Thierry Breton until 2007, and in May 2007 he was interim director of the French National Audit Office.

Grapinet then joined Crédit Agricole as head of strategy. In 2009 he became deputy CEO of the Atos Group. In 2014 he oversaw the IPO of Atos’ payments business, Worldline, and in 2015 he became Worldline’s CEO. He merged Worldline with the Dutch company Equens in 2015 to create a European payments champion. In 2018 Worldline acquired SIX Payment Services for €2.3 billion, expanding its merchant network and footprint.

In 2019 Worldline began operating independently from Atos. In 2020 Grapinet announced a bid to acquire Ingenico, aiming to create a large global payments player. Under his leadership, Worldline joined the CAC 40 stock index in February 2020.

Grapinet helped found the European Digital Payment Industry Alliance (EDPIA) and served as its first president, uniting major European payment providers. In October 2020 the acquisition of Ingenico by Worldline closed, strengthening the group. In November 2020 he became Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Younited Credit, supporting its growth as a leading European fintech. In September 2024, Gilles Grapinet left Worldline.