Michaël Benabou

Michaël Benabou is passionate about people, entrepreneurship and France. He believes that a better future will be built at the intersection of innovation and experience, and sees investment as the engine of tomorrow. Since setting up his first business at 18 years old, Michael has spent years honing his intuition, giving him the uncanny ability to identify investment opportunities that others might miss. Shaped by his experience, he believes fervently in giving every great idea its chance.

Michael is most famous for revolutionizing the garments industry with his partners, when they launched vente-privee.com in 2001. He oversaw the brand’s commercial development in France, and then internationally, culminating in explosive growth from €1.5m in turnover in 2003 to €1.5bn by 2013.

At this point, he stepped back from vente-privee.com to devote himself to his investment firm: Financière Saint James. Michael believes that investing is never a purely rational act, but is always a mixture of observation and instinct. Financière Saint James is an investment firm that is in touch with its senses – capable of seeing and feeling an opportunity.