Paulo Azevedo

Paulo Azevedo is the Chairman of Sonae, a multinational company managing a diversified portfolio of businesses in retail, telecommunications, software, shopping centers and financial services, Sonae Arauco, a wood panel manufacturer in Europe and Africa, Tafisa Canada, a wood panel manufacturer in North America, BAGlass, a glass container manufacturer in Europe and EFANOR, an investment holding company.

Paulo Azevedo was previously CEO of Sonae for 12 years and prior to that, CEO of Sonaecom and Optimus.

He was also a member of the ERT – European Roundtable for Industry for 13 years having been a member of the Steering Committee and chaired the Jobs, Skills & Impact Working Group. He is currently a member of the International Advisory Board of Allianz, SE, the Advisory Board of the Sustainable Growth Platform and the Think Tank NaturaConnect.

Paulo Azevedo has always been active in roles outside his management functions. He is currently CEO of the Belmiro de Azevedo Foundation, dedicated to education, as well as Biodiversity & Social care for senior citizens. He is involved in Espaço-T, dedicated to fighting social exclusion and Viridia, dedicated to Nature Conservation. He has in the past been involved in several sectorial and general business associations, foundations and academia and was the first Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Porto University. He was Chair of the Installation Committee of BIOPOLIS, an International Centre of Excellence in Environmental Biology, Ecosystem Research and AgroBiodiversity. He is currently invited full professor at Porto University leading a mixed research group on future compatibility of socio-economic systems and Earth systems.

Besides his degree in Chemical Engineering from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Paulo Azevedo has an MBA from Porto Business School and has several executive courses at leading academic institutions on leadership and sustainability.

Paulo Azevedo is married and has three children, enjoys sport and multiple outdoor activities and is currently dedicating more time to nature conservation and biodiversity.