After eight months without a president, the Palace of Versailles finally has a new leader. Guillaume Cerutti, 60, has been named the president of the prestigious institution, according to the newspaper Politico. A graduate of France’s elite École nationale d’administration (ENA) and a former senior civil servant in the finance ministry, he succeeds Christophe Leribault, who was appointed president and director of the Louvre in February following the abrupt departure of Laurence des Cars.
The appointment marks Cerutti’s return to public service after two decades in the private sector. In a twist of fate, he is following in the footsteps of his former mentor, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, who headed the Palace and National Estate of Versailles from 2007 to 2011. Cerutti worked closely with Aillagon for many years, first at the Centre Pompidou, where Aillagon was the president from 1996 to 2002, and later as his chief of staff when Aillagon became France’s culture minister in 2002. “Having worked alongside Guillaume [Cerutti] for decades, I know he has all the experience and qualities needed to lead Versailles,” Aillagon told Le Monde.
Cerutti went on to put his management skills to work in the art market, becoming head of Sotheby’s France in 2007. In 2015, he was poached by François Pinault, who appointed him president of Christie’s operations in Europe, the Middle East, Russia and India. Just months later, he was promoted to global chief executive of the auction house. At both Sotheby’s and Christie’s, Cerutti built a reputation as a formidable cost-cutter. He also proved adept at steering Christie’s through difficult market conditions.
His next move within the Pinault empire, however, was less successful. In January 2025, Cerutti was appointed president of the Pinault Collection, which oversees the Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana in Venice, as well as the Bourse de Commerce in Paris. Once again, he was following in the footsteps of Aillagon, who had held the same position in the 2010s. But, as Le Monde reports, Cerutti’s efforts to impose the kind of financial discipline he had introduced at Christie’s, coupled with his wish to slow the pace of acquisitions, brought him into conflict with Pinault, who was used to running his collection on his own terms. Barely a year later, Cerutti was forced to step down.
He now assumes one of the most coveted positions in French cultural life, taking charge of a historic palace, museum and gardens that welcomed 8.4 million visitors in 2025 and employ around 1,000 people. His extensive connections in the worlds of business, culture and politics could prove particularly valuable as Versailles faces mounting budgetary pressures and an ever-greater need to secure support from wealthy patrons.