Éric Lombard, a financier of the reformist left in Bercy

He goes from a public institution known to be rich to managing the finances of an impecunious state. His name is little known to the general public, and yet it has been seven years since Éric Lombard occupied one of the most important positions in the Republic: that of general director of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), which he he is often referred to as the financial armed arm of the State. Already last summer, his profile made him one of the first ministers often cited in the “tech” category, before Emmanuel Macron chose Michel Barnier.

Éric Lombard, 66 years old, is a hybrid animal. An HEC who obtained a position at the Caisse des Dépôts, traditionally reserved for financial inspectors. To win it, he wrote a long handwritten letter of application to the President of the Republic. He is also an heir to an entrepreneurial history, that of the Devanlay (Lacoste), whose heart has always beaten on the left. The new…