Moving on up: Messier rose to become chief of staff of the French finance mi nistry. He then spent five years at investment bank Lazard Freres,before joining conglomerate Generale des Eaux as managing director in 1994.

• 职务升迁记录：曾升任法国财政部高级官员，后加盟拉萨尔兄弟投资银行，在那里工作了5年之后，于1994年加盟水利公司，并任总经理。