French media executive and entrepreneur Dominique Delport was named Knight of the Legion of Honor by President Emmanuel Macron at a ceremony held at the Élysée Palace on Monday evening.
The tribute underscored Delport’s far-reaching influence across industries and borders, as it
drew a high-profile crowd spanning politics, media and entertainment, notably Hugh Grant; producer Tarak Ben Ammar; advertiser Jacques Séguéla; Open AI’s top-ranking executive George Osborne; TV host Stephane Bern and Hopital American de Paris chairman Stephane Roussel and Theo Kyriakou, K Group chairman.
Delport currently serves as founder and CEO of Arduina Group which has a footprint in Europe and the MENA region. He previously spent 17 years at leading advertising firm Havas Group, sat on Vivendi’s supervisory board for nearly a decade, and worked at Vice Media Group‘s president of international and chief revenue officer.
Macron praised Delport for his “constant enthusiasm in service of France’s global influence” and hailed him as a “digital pioneer” driven by “a zest for life and a passion for building,” tracing his trajectory from his early days as a journalist at M6, where he rose through the ranks as editor-in-chief in Lyon and Lille, to becoming a key architect of France’s modern media and communications landscape.
“You have always been driven by a desire to serve your nation,” Macron said, recounting a childhood anecdote in which a young Delport followed his father, then deputy mayor of Orléans, to work. “So young, and already eager to serve,” Macron said, smiling to Delport who attended the ceremony with his wife Elizabeth Kesses-Delport (who is a producer), and his three children, Antoine, Mathilde and Jeanne.
Macron highlighted Delport’s role in shaping flagship television programs such as “Capital” and “Zone Interdite,” before transitioning into the corporate sphere when his tech company Streampower got acquired by Bolloré Group in in 2001 and merged into Havas Media.
The French president also spoke about Delport’s role at Vice Media Group and singled out a bold 2019 initiative on the morning of the European elections, when Vice’s platforms paused online activity and posted a message saying, “Internet can wait, go vote first” — a move Macron described as emblematic of Delport’s “sincere and visionary commitment to the democratic vitality of our country.”
Since 2020, Delport’s investment and advisory firm Arduina Group has quickly become “a flagship of French influence,” Macron said, praising the executive’s “rare predictive instincts” and “limitless ambition.”
The ceremony also struck a personal note as Macron paid tribute to Delport’s British wife. “Your love of France is something you share with Elisabeth, your wife, with whom you embody the ‘entente cordiale,’” he said.
The ceremony was followed by an intimate, yet glamorous dinner at the British Embassy, hosted by Sir Thomas Drew, where Delport delivered a speech punctuated by personal tributes to each guest. Paying homage to his wife, he said, “If I’ve had this international career, it’s because I met Elisabeth, who opened me up to the world. I was a French executive, running French campaigns with French clients.”
“I was so French — boringly French. Then came the magic of the ‘entente cordiale:’ meeting this half-Greek, half-British, brilliant Oxford woman who opened my world and truly made me international,” Delport quipped.
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