Philippe Aghion

Philippe Aghion's parents were Jews from Alexandria, Egypt, who immigrated to Paris after World War II. His father, Raymond, owned an art gallery. His mother, Gaby, was a designer who started the Chloé fashion line and quite likely coined the phrase "prêt-à-porter". Young Philippe grew up around artists, including Karl Largerfeld, a long-time artistic director for his mother's brand.

So it's to no one's surprise that Philippe's chosen profession...

No, not race car driver, although there is a strange trend of Jewish fashion scions becoming race car drivers. No, not chain-smoking playboy, although who knows what he does in his spare time (he is French, after all!). Philippe is an economist, and before you claim that seems incredibly boring, he won the Nobel in 2025! (Alright, still a tad boring.) Still, you didn't see that coming!

Philippe's Nobel was awarded for "the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction". "Creative destruction" does sound like something out of the art world, doesn't it?

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