AXA

About AXA

The story of AXA begins not with a bang, but with a small mutual insurer in Normandy, France. Founded in 1817 by Jacques-Théodore le Carpentier and 17 other property owners, the company was known as Ancienne Mutuelle de Rouen. For over a century, it remained a regional player with a modest footprint. The playbook for what would become a global financial powerhouse truly began to be written in 1975 when Claude Bébéar took the helm. Bébéar had a vision that extended far beyond Normandy. The first major move was the acquisition of the Drouot Group in 1982, a company nearly twice its size. This was a bold, highly-publicized takeover that signaled a new era of ambition. To unify the growing collection of companies, a new name was needed—one that was short, dynamic, and could be pronounced in any language. After a computer-aided search, the name AXA was chosen in 1985. The 1990s marked AXA's arrival on the world stage. A pivotal event was the 1991 acquisition of American firm The Equitable. This was followed by the massive takeover of Union des Assurances de Paris (UAP), France's largest insurer, in 1996, a deal that created the world's second-largest insurance group at the time. The acquisition of XL Group in 2018 for $15.3 billion further solidified its position, making AXA the world's top commercial property and casualty insurer. From a regional mutual to a global leader, the journey was one of strategic, aggressive expansion.