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Tech takes a liking to politics

Minister of Foreign Affairs at 27, Chancellor at 31, the Austrian Sebastian Kurz is a political child prodigy. But on October 9, 2021, the ascent stopped and the curator, embroiled in corruption charges, was forced to resign. Addicted to machine games and power for years, he could have been brooding over his revenge and doing anything to find his seat. But, to everyone’s surprise, in December, Sebastian Kurz announced a conversion that clashed by taking the direction of California. Assignment? Occupy the position of global strategist of Thiel Capital, owned by Peter Thiel, German-American co-founder of PayPal and pundit of US tech. For the record, he replaces the American Blake Masters who wishes to enter politics and become a senator from Arizona. If the announcement may surprise, the Austrian is not the only one to have gone from politics to a sector that fascinates some and frightens others.

Ministers and senior officials cross the Rubicon

If the situation is common across the Atlantic, the phenomenon is more recent on the Old Continent. The recruitment that has most marked the spirits is surely that of the Briton Nick Clegg. Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister from 2010 to 2015, he left the political scene and also headed for the Bay of San Francisco to join Facebook as head of international affairs and communications. According to the BBC, this new professional life allows him to earn sixty times more than an MP.

The Kurz and Clegg cases highlight a movement little known to the general public. More and more political leaders and senior civil servants are leaving parliaments, ministries and administrations to join the digital heavyweights. A “migration” that knows no left-right divide.

Two former Sarkozyists are at the helm of Facebook France and TikTok France, while a former close friend of Manuel Valls is director of public affairs for Apple Europe.

In France, the enarque Laurent Solly, a former member of Nicolas Sarkozy’s close guard, has been at the head of Facebook France since 2013 while his former cultural adviser Éric Garandeau has been president of TikTok France since September 2020. On the left, Sébastien Gros, principal lieutenant of Manuel Valls, is director of public affairs for Apple Europe. We should also mention Fleur Pellerin, former Minister of Culture under François Hollande, who left her post in 2016 to co-found Korelya Capital, specializing in supporting Korean funds wishing to invest in French start-ups.

Luxury lobbyists?

For some, the situation is clear. These former politicians are recruited for their knowledge of the workings of the state and for their address book. In short, many of them are above all lobbyists who rely on their past to help their new employer push the right doors. “The tech sector, especially the larger groups, understand that the time has come for regulation, which means maintaining close relationships with authorities”, explains Vincent Jauvert, a fine connoisseur of the subject and, in particular, author of The Voracious, the elites and money under Macron. According to him, “it is important for these large private groups to have within them people who can influence the regulators”. Moreover, it is no coincidence that, according to him, Airbnb seeks to recruit (in vain for the moment) former executives of the town hall of Paris. People who would be ready to scrap with the communist Ian Brossat who advocates an increasingly strict regulation of tourist rentals.

Quest for challenge and five-legged sheep

Admittedly, these new missions make it possible to inflate the bank account. But the greed for employees, and the address book for employers, are not the only reasons for marriage. “Politics provides a lot of adrenaline, a feeling of being able to change things, of being constantly in action. It is sometimes tempting to pursue your career by experiencing such sensations that you can find in a large tech group”, recognizes Gaspard Gantzer, founding president of Gantzer Agency with a prestigious CV: spokesperson for Bertrand Delanoë at the Paris City Hall, in charge of communications for Laurent Fabius at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in charge of communications for François Hollande at the Élysée.

Vision, desire to change things, ability to work in a team, ability to act under pressure while gaining height… For Gaspard Gantzer, former ministers or senior civil servants have skills that attract the giants of the tech.

An opinion shared by Vincent Jauvert for whom “working in this type of company for someone brilliant is exhilarating, challenging and exciting”. Especially since some are sometimes as powerful as a state. And the sector makes it possible to offer opportunities to all profiles: “Some companies are old in the landscape, they seek to structure themselves, to gain notability, to avoid disruption, others are more with a view to conquest”, observes the communicator.

Employers, for their part, are fond of senior executives who have passed under the gold of the Republic. As Gaspard Gantzer points out: “When you have led or helped to lead a nation, you can act under pressure, manage various teams, have a vision, an international outlook. These are skills highly sought after by recruiters. In short, it is not only for the network that they are poached, estimates the communicator for whom “the big groups already have lobbyists who know all the decision-makers. On the other hand, they lack conductors who have technical knowledge and an overall vision”. Skills acquired by those freed from politics.

“Working in this type of company, for someone brilliant and ambitious, is ideal”

A one-way trip?

But is this postage without return? Is the image of tech harmful in the eyes of public opinion? Can suspicions of possible conflicts of interest nip in the bud a possible come-back ? On the question of image, Vincent Jauvert and Gaspard Gantzer agree to affirm that a possible passage in a Gafa is not a thorn in the side. For the former presidential communications strategist, “in France, we are wary of those who earn too much money, the Gafa can be seen as a new Great Satan. But at the same time, there is a certain fascination and the French increasingly like elected officials with diverse profiles, this is not a handicap.”

The story is the same on Vincent Jauvert’s side for whom, “going private, in itself, it’s not a problem, it’s even rather healthy”. On the other hand, it is necessary to avoid conflicts of interest. To do this, France has had a High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP) since 2013, which makes it possible, as far as possible, to avoid embarrassing situations. It gave discharge to certain former executives of the private sector who, after advice, were able to participate in public life. He is also a former investment banker who has occupied the Elysée Palace since 2017. His time at Rothschild allowed him to obtain valuable contacts and skills. What if one of the next presidents was a former Gafa executive? After all, it would be a beautiful illustration of the world after.

Lucas Jakubowicz

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