Europe has attracted many metaphors this year, from a collapsing soufflé to a soon-to-be “museum” with no industry left.
Yet none of those metaphors alter the fact that it remains a key arena for Big Business, boasting a market of roughly 500 million people. And it’s the industry leaders in this region who keep Europe at the center of global debates, both big and small.
Fortune set out to identify some of the most prominent business personalities of 2024 whose influence—and headlines—have shaped the year. Plus, their presence portends the year to come.
Whether in automotive, luxury, or regulation, these individuals represent Europe’s ever-evolving role in the global economy. Their stories range from remarkable leadership and dramatic wealth shifts to steep falls from grace and even tragic endings.
One thing is clear: Without these figures, neither the year nor Europe itself would look the same.
Bernard Arnault is the commander-in-chief of the world’s largest luxury conglomerate, LVMH. He’s led the company through decades of ups and downs, including the recent luxury downturn.
A pullback in Chinese consumer demand and changing attitudes toward luxury goods have hurt LVMH—and Arnault himself. He’s lost $32 billion in wealth this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him the only billionaire among the world’s top 15 wealthiest individuals to close the year with a lower net worth. Arnault remains Europe’s richest man, nonetheless.
The LVMH CEO has been pulled into an influence-peddling investigation involving the former head of France’s domestic intelligence agency. Arnault denied any involvement.
While the luxury boss has no retirement plans on the horizon, his children have been elevated to key positions this year. Two of his sons, Alexandre and Frédéric, joined their two siblings on LVMH’s board in April, and Alexandre was also made a key figure at the conglomerate’s wine and spirits division, Moët Hennessy.
Meanwhile, Arnault has widened his gaze this year with AI investments through the venture fund owned by the family office, Aglaé Ventures, and by foraying into entertainment and sports.
Business matters aside, Arnault earned a unique honor this year when he received President Emmanuel Macron’s Grand-Croix de la Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest civilian honor.
While much of 2024’s business chatter has centered on AI, the biggest wins are still coming from digitizing traditional industries.
Enter Ana Botín, executive chairman of Banco Santander. Over the past decade, she has secured her position as one of Europe’s most formidable business figures. Ever since Botín took the helm in 2014, Santander has welcomed 60 million new customers, tripled its profits, and boosted shareholder returns sixfold. Last year, the bank reported a record €11.1 billion in profit, setting the stage for an even stronger 2024.
Botín’s success lies in her ambitious decade-long push to modernize and streamline this 167-year-old global banking titan. Despite having operations spanning 29 countries, she has, in just two years, slashed one-third of Santander’s product lineup, streamlined Santander down to five core business units, and all while making more of its products available online than ever before.
Even the share price—long a sore spot, as investors questioned Botín’s grand plans and criticized executive pay—has started to recover this year. Her skill in navigating global markets, embracing innovation, and orchestrating a turnaround that’s now paying off has cemented her status as a key figure in European business.
In an era fixated on new technology, Botín’s story proves that the digital transformation of legacy players can still deliver the biggest headlines.
FILE: Mike Lynch, former chief executive officer of Autonomy Corp., reacts during a Bloomberg Television interview in London, U.K., on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014. After being criticized by a London judge for being dishonest, Lynch now awaits a final decision by the U.K. government over his extradition to the U.S. to face criminal fraud charges. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Once known as Britain’s Bill Gates, Mike Lynch spent his summer celebrating after winning a lengthy court battle in San Francisco. He marked this milestone by sailing across the Mediterranean Sea with 10 others: his family, legal team, and key figures from Autonomy, the business he sold to Hewlett-Packard in a widely criticized deal that led to a 13-year-long court battle.
The saga lives on today. Lynch may have won the court battles in San Francisco, but he lost in the U.K. civil case, which expects to rule on damages in 2025. Despite the sensitive nature of Lynch’s downfall, Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced it plans to pursue his family for up to $4 billion in damages.
Carlos Tavares, chief executive officer of Stellantis NV, during a Bloomberg Television interview at the Paris Motor Show in Paris, France, on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. “We are finally to starting to see smaller vehicles and more affordable EVs,” said Serge Gachot, director of the Paris show. Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Carlos Tavares was the sacrificial lamb in a bloodbath year for European automakers.
The then Stellantis CEO resigned in December, ahead of a planned 2026 retirement, after struggling to turn around the fortunes of a carmaker that had shed market share in its key markets; Tavares’s approach to salvaging the auto giant had clashed with the views of Stellantis’s board.
This Christmas will mark Tavares’s first out of the spotlight, after the 66-year-old turned around the fortunes of France’s PSA Group before taking the helm at Stellantis after a merger with Fiat Chrysler.
Tavares, who described himself as arrogant earlier this year in failing to react to manufacturing and inventory issues, was criticized by dealers in the U.S., where Stellantis sells the widely popular Jeep and Ram brands.
His legacy was also widely trashed by executives, who spoke off the record to several publications, alleging Tavares was focused on preserving his own reputation ahead of Stellantis’s long-term interests.
Tavares was described as a “samurai” by a former French finance minister. He is also a devoted self-described petrol head, who was often found at racetracks testing out vintage cars on his weekends off.
He drew criticism during his rise for his focus on cost-cutting, which was known to hurt morale among his employees. Until now, though, the results on the balance sheet always protected the outspoken CEO, who had a fascination with Darwinism.
With Stellantis, however, it appears Tavares finally tipped the scales to the point where his position was no longer tenable.
Tavares’s first interview since his resignation, in which he said he wouldn’t act differently with hindsight, was emblematic of that laser-focused approach that proved crucial to both his rise and his downfall.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – SEPTEMBER 10: Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age Margrethe Vestager is talking to media in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter on September 10, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium. Today the EU Court of Justice ruled in favor of the European Commission which had ordered Apple to reimburse 13 billion euros in unpaid taxes to Ireland in 2016, and 2.4 billion euros imposed on Google for the anti-competitive promotion of its Shopping service. The judgment puts an end to the dispute. (Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
Europe has become synonymous with regulation in tech circles—for better or worse—and Margrethe Vestager has been instrumental. The “tax lady,” as Donald Trump named her, has helped legal tools like the Digital Markets Act and the AI Act come to fruition. She also hasn’t pulled her punches when calling out the largest companies in the world for being anticompetitive—sometimes with just a one-minute Instagram video and a marker board.
Her unrelenting pursuit in bringing Big Tech to pay its dues and conform to rules on its influence reached a pinnacle in 2024. The EU issued Apple and Google a cumulative €15.4 billion in back taxes and fines, respectively—a landmark moment in Vestager’s 10-year crusade as the bloc’s competition chief.
Vestager told reporters that she hoped the Google case against it favoring its shopping search results would be a “catalyst for change.” The Dane’s time at the EU has attracted its fair share of criticism as impeding the region’s attractiveness for tech. However, every big company will have to contend with a higher standard of business practices, thanks to Vestager’s legacy.
Under President Joe Biden, the U.S. took oversight of the tech industry a lot more seriously, sending a strong message to the sprawling behemoths that have long operated with little restraint. It remains to be seen how Trump tussles with the precedent Vestager set.
As she ends her term policing antitrust, Vestager will take over as chair of the Technical University of Denmark’s board in 2025.
Dame Sharon White’s tenure as chairman of the John Lewis Partnership was marked by decisive and often divisive actions aimed at turning around the iconic British retailer after a period of unprecedented challenges.
Assuming leadership of the retail giant in 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, White navigated through significant disruptions and then embarked on a difficult yet necessary strategy of adapting John Lewis to the modern retail landscape.
Closing underperforming stores, reducing staff bonuses, and briefly removing the stores’ iconic price promise were all measures designed to streamline operations and reduce costs. White also spearheaded the diversification of the business into new markets like residential property.
Despite facing criticism for her lack of prior retail experience, White’s leadership was instrumental in steering the partnership toward financial recovery. By 2024, JLP reported a return to profitability, with improving market share and customer satisfaction, signaling the initial success of the transformation initiatives she set in motion.
White’s tenure, while challenging, exemplifies the best kind of adaptive leadership in the face of adversity, laying the groundwork for John Lewis Partnership’s ongoing transformation and reaffirming her status as one of the top business personalities of 2024.
