Guillaume Cerutti to Lead the Château de Versailles After Short Stint at Pinault Collection

Guillaume Cerutti, former president of the Pinault Collection and former CEO of Christie’s auction house, has landed a plush new position as the next president of the Château de Versailles, Politico reports. His nomination by French President Emmanuel Macron was announced by government officials today. He will start on November 9, replacing Christophe Leribault, who departed in February to lead the Louvre.

Cerutti, 60, left his job as president of the Pinault Collection in the spring, after just 13 months, leading to questions of a falling out with its founder, French billionaire François Pinault. Christie’s auction house is also owned by the Pinault family’s holding company, Artémis.

“It’s a big comeback. I don’t know how he managed to get the job,” an unnamed, high-ranking museum figure told Politico. Indeed, Le Monde described it as “a stunning vindication.”

Cerutti has had a long career in French public arts, having served as the Centre Pompidou’s managing director and as chief of staff to the minister of culture, and in the auction houses. He served as CEO of Sotheby’s France from 2007 to 2011, when he became deputy chairman of Sotheby’s Europe. In 2016, he was hired as Christie’s president for Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and India. A year later, he became CEO, a role he held until January 2025.

In February 2025, Cerutti became president of the collection owned by French billionaire François Pinault. In addition to the 10,000 works in its holdings, the Pinault Collection also maintains several private museums: the Bourse de Commerce in Paris and the Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana in Venice, which regularly stage exhibitions. The Paris location opened in 2021, while the Venice outposts opened in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Pinault also owns Venice’s Teatrino, a 225-seat auditorium that reopened in 2013 after a renovation by Tadao Ando, who also worked on the other two spaces in the city.

But soon after taking the helm of the Pinault Collection, Cerutti “antagonized” its owner, Pinault himself, by trying to slow acquisitions, according to Le Monde. “He acted like an abrasive cost-cutter, without grasping that Pinault, for whom the collection is his passion, had no intention of letting anyone decide for him,” one unnamed source told the French media.

His reputation as an “uncompromising manager” and his network of high-earning, powerful contacts reportedly tipped the balance in his favor for the Versailles post, particularly when it comes to fundraising. France’s 2027 finance budget has cut €3 million ($ 3.4 million) in operating funding from the palace, while granting it €7 million ($7.9 million) in spending toward “investment.”

“His experience in the private sector will be an asset at Versailles. We need to break down barriers: there isn’t one noble sector and another that isn’t,” said Philippe Bélaval, a former advisor to Macron, speaking to the AFP.

Cerutti is also tasked with implementing an ongoing €200 million ($225 million) restoration, safety, and security upgrade to the over 400-year-old former palace, which began in 2024 and will continue through 2031, stated France’s ministry of culture in its announcement of the nomination. “These works, aimed at strengthening fire safety and the security of the buildings and collections, represent the largest construction project the public institution has seen since its creation,” added the ministry.

The Château de Versailles welcomed about 8.4 million visitors last year and counts some 1,000 workers. Its security and safety upgrades became particularly pressing in light of a recent spate of thefts across the country, most famously including the Louvre crown jewel heist in October, 2025. To help pay for running expenses, the former royal estate raised its standard entry fee to €35 ($39), from the previous €32 ($36), for non-European residents in January this year.