Tidjane Thiam an executive director, sitting on the plc board. In January 2007, after Richard Harvey announced he would step down as chief executive of Aviva, Thiam was tipped as a possible future head of the group. Thiam left Aviva in September 2007 to become chief financial officer of Prudential plc. In March 2009, Thiam was named chief executive, effective from October, after Mark Tucker chose to step down. The appointment made him the first African to lead a FTSE 100 listed company. His departure from the role was announced on 10 March 2015. After he became chief executive, Prudential launched a
Tidjane Thiam elected INSEAD Alumnus of the Year by the Insead Alumnus Association. In 2009, he was nominated as one of "50 Alumni who changed the world" as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of INSEAD and its 38,000 graduates. He was ranked number one in both 2010 and 2011 by the annual publication the Powerlist, which ranks the 100 most influential Africans in the UK. In July 2011, Thiam was awarded the rank of Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by the French government in recognition of his significant contribution to civil life for more than 20 years. In 2013,