Hero of the Week: February 15, 2021 — Frédéric Pierucci

Frédéric Pierucci is a hero of modern times.

Pierrucci managed to successfully balance the interests of employer, country and family with integrity under dire and brutally lawless circumstances while mastering some of the most complex legal and regulatory structures on the planet. His book and story should be required reading in every MBA program on how to play to win in the dangerous business of global economic warfare.

A former senior executive at ALSTOM — a French global conglomerate, he was arrested in the United States on corruption charges in 2013. During his time in a high-security prison, he studied the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) to understand how it was being applied by the US Department of Justice and the Securities & Exchange Commission (DOJ/SEC) to companies and individuals. He was ultimately released and worked with French leadership to educate them on the use of economic sanctions to engineer foreign takeovers at distressed prices. This became the topic of his book, The American Trap, which describes the economic warfare waged by Washington against competitors.

Today, Frédéric helps companies protect themselves and their employees against the FCPA and similar laws through IKARIAN, the consulting company he founded upon his return to France.

Related Reading:

Book review of The American Trap by Frédéric Pierucci, with Matthieu Aron.

Frédéric Pierucci’s company website: IKARIAN