From the Empire State Building to the Eiffel Tower, Otis Elevator Co. has helped to build cities and transformed the world of movement. Today it continues to drive forward its global presence with dynamic leadership at the vanguard of its designs for reinventing the way people move. One of its dynamic leaders was Guillaume Renaud, president of Nippon Otis Elevator Co., who lost his life in a tragic automobile accident on Aug. 14, at the age of 49. With great sadness Otis mourns the passing of Renaud, who is survived by his wife, Nathalie, and two young children, Thalia and Marceau.
Renaud was born in Cameroon, where he spent part of his childhood in addition to France. Due to this early childhood experience, he developed an abiding intercultural curiosity. He graduated from Supelec, a top French engineering school, and later earned a master’s degree in business administration from INSEAD. He started his career at General Electric Co. as a commissioning engineer and project manager for power stations, with assignments that gave him the opportunity to live in various countries in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia Pacific.
He then brought his strong business and global mindset to United Technologies Corp., starting at its climate, controls and security division in 2004 and subsequently holding positions of increasing responsibility in marketing, strategy and general management until becoming in 2015 the vice president of service at Otis France. With a wealth of experience in business management and leadership roles, he relocated to Japan in 2017 where he was appointed president of Nippon Otis Elevator. He spoke highly of his move to Japan at the time, expressing his admiration for Japan’s culture and the values he learned during his study of martial arts at a young age.