Alexis Kohler
Alexis Kohler, full name Arnaud Alexis Michel Kohler, in Strasbourg, is a French senior official and politician. Énarque, former director of cabinet of Pierre Moscovici then of Emmanuel Macron at the Ministry of Finance, he was appointed general secretary of the Élysée Palace on 14 May 2017.Biography
Born in 1972 in Strasbourg, Alexis Kohler is the son of Charles Kohler, a senior European official, and Sola Hakim, a lawyer. He grew up in Strasbourg. His training was quite classical: Sciences Po, ESSEC class 1993, ENA, like Fleur Pellerin, and Audrey Azoulay.
Kohler began his career at the of the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance, then he was detached to various organisms, including the International Monetary Fund, then the Agence des participations de l'État. On 22 November 2003 he married Sylvie Schirm with whom he had three children.
Following François Hollande's election, he became deputy director of Pierre Moscovici's cabinet, Minister of the Economy and Finance. In August 2014, he became the director of Emmanuel Macron's cabinet at Bercy.
When Emmanuel Macron resigned in 2016 to establish En marche !, Kohler returned to a position in the private sector as chief financial officer of MSC Cruises, the world's second largest ocean freight company. At the request of his employer, he settled in Grenoble, then Geneva, but continued to work remotely for Emmanuel Macron, by mails and WhatsApp loops. When the 2017 présidential campaign started, he was a central figure in the headquarters of En marche !
Kohler was appointed general secretary of the Élysée on 14 May 2017 and prepared the passage of relay with the outgoing general secretary, Jean-Pierre Jouyet. He is close to Édouard Philippe, whom Emmanuel Macron didn't know much when he appointed him Prime Minister.
