Stéphane Boujnah

Stéphane Boujnah
Nationality	French
Occupation	Business executive
Title	CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board, Euronext N.V.
Known for	CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board of Euronext N.V.

Stéphane Boujnah is a French business executive who serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Managing Board of Euronext N.V., the pan-European stock exchange operator headquartered in Amsterdam with operations across multiple European countries. Since assuming the role in 2015, Boujnah has overseen a significant transformation of Euronext from a primarily Franco-Dutch exchange into a diversified, multi-market infrastructure group spanning seven European countries. Under his leadership, Euronext has pursued an acquisition-driven growth strategy that has included the purchases of the Oslo, Dublin, and Milan stock exchanges, as well as a proposed takeover of the Athens Exchange (ATHEX). Boujnah is also a member of the Trilateral Commission, an international policy organization founded in 1973. His tenure at Euronext has coincided with broader debates about European capital markets integration and competitiveness, and he has been a prominent voice in discussions about the future of European financial infrastructure.

Career

Early Career

Prior to joining Euronext, Boujnah had an extensive career in investment banking and corporate finance. His background in financial services provided the foundation for his later role leading one of Europe's most significant market infrastructure groups.

Leadership at Euronext

Boujnah became CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board of Euronext N.V. in 2015. At the time of his appointment, Euronext had recently been spun off from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) through an initial public offering in 2014. The exchange primarily operated markets in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Lisbon. Boujnah set about redefining the company's strategic direction, choosing a path that he later described as deliberately divergent from the approaches taken by other major exchange operators.

In a November 2025 interview marking his tenth year in charge, Boujnah reflected on the strategic choices that had defined his tenure. He stated that Euronext had chosen "not to follow the crowd," a reference to the company's decision to remain focused on its core exchange and post-trade infrastructure businesses rather than pivoting heavily into data and technology services as some competitors had done. This strategy was underscored by the company's achievement of seven consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth, a metric Boujnah cited as validation of the approach.

In a December 2025 interview, Boujnah explicitly contrasted Euronext's strategy with that of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), which had acquired data provider Refinitiv in a major deal. Boujnah remarked that Euronext "may have missed the Titanic" by not pursuing an LSEG-type data acquisition, suggesting that the firm had benefited from sticking to its core business while rivals shifted into data services.

Acquisitions and Expansion

A defining feature of Boujnah's leadership has been a series of acquisitions that expanded Euronext's geographic footprint across Europe. Over the course of his tenure, Euronext acquired the Irish Stock Exchange (now Euronext Dublin), the Oslo Børs (now Euronext Oslo), and, in what was the company's largest transaction, Borsa Italiana (now Euronext Milan), which it purchased from the London Stock Exchange Group in 2021. These acquisitions transformed Euronext into a pan-European exchange group operating regulated markets in seven countries.

By 2025, Boujnah had turned his attention to further expansion in southeastern Europe. In July 2025, Euronext submitted an all-share voluntary share exchange offer for the Athens Exchange (ATHEX), the operator of the Greek stock market, as part of a strategy to build out its presence in the region. In November 2025, Boujnah described the potential acquisition of ATHEX as "a landmark opportunity for Greek markets," framing the deal as beneficial for Greece's capital market development and for Euronext's broader European integration strategy.

Boujnah signaled that his appetite for further acquisitions remained strong even as he prepared to step down from the CEO role. In a late 2025 profile in Financial News London, he indicated that he wanted to complete at least one more significant deal before his departure, which was expected in 2026. However, he ruled out acquisitions in the United States, stating that the US under the administration of Donald Trump had become "unrecognisable."

Views on European Capital Markets Consolidation

Throughout his tenure, Boujnah has been a vocal advocate for greater consolidation among European stock exchanges. He has argued that fragmentation of European capital markets infrastructure weakens the continent's competitiveness relative to the United States and Asia.

In an October 2025 appearance on CNBC, Boujnah stated that he was open to greater consolidation among Europe's stock exchanges, including a potential combination with the London Stock Exchange. This proposal aligned with broader discussions championed by German policymakers and other European leaders about the need to create deeper, more integrated capital markets in Europe to support economic growth and competitiveness.

Boujnah's advocacy for European capital markets union has been a consistent theme. He has argued that the creation of a single, integrated European capital market would allow companies to raise capital more efficiently and would reduce Europe's dependence on bank financing.

Commentary on US Economic Policy

In 2025, Boujnah became increasingly outspoken about what he perceived as a deterioration of the United States' attractiveness as a destination for investment. In a July 2025 appearance on Bloomberg's Merryn Talks Money podcast, he argued that the policies of the Trump administration had transformed what had been described as a "great rotation" of capital flows into a "global reallocation of trust." He contended that investors were beginning to shift capital away from the United States and toward Europe as a result of concerns about US policy predictability and institutional stability.

In the same interview, Boujnah went further, suggesting that the United States was beginning to resemble an "emerging market" in certain respects, a characterization that attracted significant attention in the financial press. He reiterated similar sentiments in subsequent interviews, telling Financial News London that the US had become "unrecognisable" under the Trump administration and ruling out any US-based acquisitions for Euronext.

Planned Departure

By late 2025, it was publicly reported that Boujnah was preparing to step down from the CEO role at Euronext, with an expected departure in 2026. Having served approximately a decade in the position, he indicated in multiple interviews that he intended to complete additional strategic initiatives — including at least one more significant acquisition — before handing over leadership. In a November 2025 interview with Markets Media, Boujnah discussed the transformation of Euronext over his decade in charge, summarizing the strategic and operational changes that had reshaped the company during his tenure.

Memberships and Affiliations

Boujnah is a member of the Trilateral Commission, an international nongovernmental policy forum established in 1973 by David Rockefeller. The commission brings together leaders from North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region to discuss shared challenges in areas including economics, security, and governance.

Legacy

Boujnah's tenure at Euronext is defined by the transformation of the company from a mid-sized, Franco-Dutch exchange operator into a pan-European market infrastructure group with operations spanning seven countries. His acquisition-led strategy, which brought the exchanges in Oslo, Dublin, and Milan under the Euronext umbrella, fundamentally changed the scale and geographic reach of the organization. The proposed acquisition of the Athens Exchange, if completed, would further extend that footprint into southeastern Europe.

His strategic decision to keep Euronext focused on core exchange and post-trade services — rather than pursuing large-scale diversification into data and technology businesses — distinguished the company's approach from that of several major competitors. By 2025, this approach had produced seven consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth, a record that Boujnah frequently cited as evidence of the strategy's success.

Beyond corporate strategy, Boujnah has been a persistent advocate for European capital markets integration. His public calls for consolidation among European exchanges, including the prospect of incorporating the London Stock Exchange into a broader European framework, contributed to an ongoing policy debate about the structure of European financial markets. His pointed commentary on US economic policy in 2025 — including the characterization of the US as resembling an "emerging market" — positioned him as one of the more outspoken voices in the European financial establishment regarding transatlantic economic relations.

As he prepares to leave the CEO role, the succession process at Euronext and the continuation — or potential revision — of the strategic direction he established will be central questions for the company and for European capital markets more broadly.