Virginie Morgon was a guest on Génération Do It Yourself, one of France's leading entrepreneurship podcasts hosted by Matthieu Stefani.
She has been called "La Louve de Wall Street." Over 17 years at Lazard and 15 years leading Eurazeo, Virginie Morgon built one of the most distinctive careers in European finance — advising on landmark deals, defending Danone against PepsiCo's hostile bid, and transforming a century-old investment firm into a global platform.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Virginie opens up about the formative experiences that shaped her — from her early years at Lazard alongside extraordinary figures like Michel David-Weill, to the construction of brand equity at Moncler, to the moment she decided to stop taking jobs and start building something of her own.
She shares her perspective on what makes a great leader — listening to weak signals, surrounding yourself with the right people, and having the courage to stay the course — and explains why she founded Ardabelle Capital: to put hypercompetence at the service of conviction, investing €150 million to relocalize, decarbonize, and strengthen European value chains.
Key themes covered
- The art of strategic advisory — What 17 years at Lazard taught her about confidentiality, courage, and the construction of industrial empires
- Building brand equity — The Moncler story and why "not too much, not too fast" is the path to extraordinary success
- Women in finance — Navigating a masculine world without creating self-imposed barriers, and her advocacy journey alongside Human Rights Watch
- European sovereignty — Why the real opportunity lies in rebuilding value chains, not optimizing the margins of what already exists
- The birth of Ardabelle — How a collective of complementary profiles came together to create something original, intentional, and deeply aligned
Quitter la finance traditionnelle pour reconstruire l'Europe — Génération Do It Yourself
Génération Do It Yourself — Virginie Morgon