SCOR said its chairman and former chief executive Denis Kessler, the man who ruled the French reinsurer for more than two decades, has died.

Kessler died on Friday, aged 71. Vice-chairman Augustin de Romanet will chair the board for an interim period until a new chair is appointed as part of the ongoing process. 

SCOR’s directors praised Kessler for being an “exceptional individual, with visionary leadership and incredible intelligence”, adding: “Denis has made a tremendous contribution to SCOR’s development over the past 21 years, and more widely to public debate on major contemporary economic and social policy issues. He has left a profound imprint on the group, with the double hallmark of high standards and excellence, which the teams he built will perpetuate. To his family and friends, our company expresses its deepest sympathy, gratitude and support."

Kessler joined the reinsurer in 2002 holding the dual role of chairman and CEO but relinquished his CEO role in 2021 “for personal reasons”. He became non-executive chairman of SCOR in June 2021.

Laurent Rousseau, at the time deputy CEO for SCOR Global P&C, was chosen as his successor. 

Rousseau resigned as CEO earlier this year and will join reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter as CEO of EMEA in September. Thierry Léger became CEO of SCOR last month. 

Under Kessler’s leadership, SCOR was embroiled in a long-running conflict and a series of lawsuits with French mutual insurer Covéa following a failed takeover bid by Covéa, which was rejected by SCOR in 2018. In 2021, both companies signed a deal “to restore peaceful relations” with respective independence.

Léger described Kessler as the “architect behind SCOR’s success and reputation”. 

He continued: “I am privileged to have had the opportunity to work alongside Denis. He leaves us an extraordinary legacy. It is now up to us to carry on his work. The strong foundations on which he rebuilt the group enable us to look to the future with total confidence.”