Thierry Déau is Meridiam’s chairman and chief executive officer. He founded Meridiam, an independent investment Benefit Corporation specializing in the development, financing, and management of long-term and sustainable infrastructure projects, in 2005, with the belief that the alignment of interests between the public and private sectors can provide critical solutions to the collective needs of communities. Managing over $22 billion in assets, the firm has to date more than 125 projects under development, under construction, or in operation.
Meridiam currently maintains offices in Paris, Istanbul, Addis Ababa, Dakar, Luxembourg, Amman, Vienna, Libreville, Johannesburg, and Washington, DC, and is a leading investor in public infrastructure across Europe, North America, and Africa.
Prior to Meridiam, Déau worked for France’s Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), where he held several positions within its engineering and development subsidiary, Egis Projects.
Déau is currently a board member of Fondation des Ponts, board member of the Friends of the Paris Opera (AROP), chairman of the Établissement public du Palais de la Porte Dorée, founder of the Africa Infrastructure fellowship program (AIFP), founding member of the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership (SDIP) of the World Economic Forum, chairman of the Long-term Infrastructure Investors Association (LTIIA), chairman of the Fast-Infra Group (FIG), chairman of UP for Humanness, and president of the Archery Foundation, which supports young talents from underprivileged areas in France in their personal and professional development.
Déau graduated from École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées engineering School.