TOP 100 | LEADERS

Title: Chief Executive Officer Company: AXA Group Industry: Insurance

A German running France’ s insurance flagship was once unthinkable; now it is the benchmark. Thomas Buberl took AXA in 2016 and performed surgery without anaesthetic, selling the American life business, buying XL to lead commercial lines and steering it towards protecting clients from an angrier world. Climate, cyber and health, the risks that terrify rivals, are the ones he ran at. Asset management was folded into BNP Paribas, a trade of ego for focus few would make. His AXA is stronger in every currency that matters, capital, relevance and nerve. businesschief. com 63