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Francois Hollande Fast Facts

By CNN

(CNN) — Here is a look at the life of François Hollande, former president of France.

Personal

Birth date: August 12, 1954

Birth place: Rouen, Normandy, France

Birth name: François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande

Father: Georges Hollande, a physician

Mother: Nicole Tribert, a social worker

Marriage: Julie Gayet (June 4, 2022-present)

Children: with Ségolène Royal: Flora, Julien, Clémence and Thomas

Education: Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (“Sciences Po”); École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris, École nationale d’administration

Military service: French Army, 1977

Religion: Atheist

Other Facts

Was the first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand left office in 1995.

Promises made during the campaign include renegotiating the austerity agreement, troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, lower retirement age and higher taxes on the very wealthy.

After the 2015 Charlie Hebdo Paris Terrorist attacks, Hollande called for convicted terrorists to be stripped of their French nationality if they held dual citizenship.

Taught economics at the elite Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris.

Timeline

1979 – Joins the Socialist Party.

1981 – Aide to Socialist President Francois Mitterrand.

1981 – Is defeated by Jacques Chirac for a French parliamentary seat.

1983-1984 – Member of staff for French Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy.

1983-1989 – Member of the Ussel City Council.

1988-1993 – Member of Parliament for Correze.

1994 – National Secretary of the Socialist Party for economic affairs.

1995-2001 – Council of Tulle member.

1997-2002 – Member of Parliament for Correze.

1997-2008 – First Secretary, Secretary General and leader of the Socialist Party.

2001-2008 – Mayor of Tulle.

May 18, 2003 – Signs the country’s first same-sex marriage act into law. The law also legalizes adoption for same-sex couples.

2007 – The 28-year relationship with the mother of his four children, Ségolène Royal, ends. They were never married.

October 16, 2011 – Wins the French presidential nomination for the Socialist Party, defeating candidates that include his former partner, Royal.

April 22, 2012 – Receives 28.6% of the vote in the French presidential election, slightly ahead of Nicolas Sarkozy’s 27.2%, forcing a May 6 runoff.

May 6, 2012 – Defeats Sarkozy with 51.62% of the vote in the runoff election.

May 15, 2012 – Inaugurated as president.

May 18-19, 2012 – Attends the G8 summit at Camp David, Maryland.

May 20-21, 2012 – Attends the NATO summit hosted in Chicago.

September 25, 2012 – Speaks at the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

January 25, 2014 – Announces the end of his seven-year relationship with journalist Valerie Trierweiler.

December 1, 2016 – Announces he will not seek a second term in office.

May 14, 2017 – Hollande leaves office as Emmanuel Macron is sworn in as the new president of France.

April 11, 2018 – His book about his time in office, Les leçons du pouvoir (“The Lessons of Power”), is published.

July 2019 – Testifies as a witness in a Brazilian corruption investigation involving Gripen fighter jets.

July 6, 2019 – Appears in a play at the Avignon theatre festival in the South of France.

June 15, 2024 – Announces he is running for Parliament in the snap elections. On July 7, he is elected as the member of the French parliament for Corrèze, which he represented in the 1980s and 1990s.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

Global bond markets are getting hammered. Here’s what’s driving the sell-off

By CNN
New York (CNN) — Investors’ concerns over a range of issues from inflation to hefty government deficits are driving a global bond market-sell off, creating a headache for policymakers and pushing up borrowing costs for governments and consumers.Yields rise when bond prices fall. Investors are selling bonds, pushing prices lower and yields higher: The 30-year US Treasury yield on Tuesday hit 5.34%, its highest level since 2007.The yield’s rise to a 19-year high is a part of broader unease in global bond markets. In France and Germany, 10-year bond yields this week hit their highest levels since 2008 and 2011, respectively. In Japan, the 10-year yield hit its highest level in 30 years.Bond yields across various economies are surging to their highest levels in years while investors reckon with a mix of factors from stubborn inflation to rising government deficits to a wave of new corporate debt issuance.On one hand, the sell-off reflects investors’ longstanding concerns about unchecked government spending and rising deficits. Yields are rising as investors demand more compensation for the risk of lending money to governments amid a backdrop of shakier finances.But the bond market angst has been exacerbated this year by the US-Israeli war with Iran and the surge in oil prices. Brent crude on Tuesday rose above $91 per barrel. Investors are demanding a higher yield on bonds to compensate for the risk of inflation eating into their return.The Iran war has also rocked bonds as investors weigh the impact of surging oil prices and the possibility that central banks could keep interest rates higher for longer, or even raise them, to combat inflation.“The worsening situation in the Middle East is likely a factor in intensifying concerns over inflation and concerns over the US fiscal position,” Derek Halpenny, head of research for global markets at MUFG, said in a note.“There remains zero appetite in the US for addressing the US fiscal position and that is increasingly weighing on the long end of the curve,” Halpenny said.Government bonds are also under pressure from a wave of new debt from companies, including tech firms focused on artificial intelligence. Tech companies are issuing debt to fund the buildout of AI infrastructure, and those bonds are competing with government bonds for investors’ attention. Less demand for government bonds pushes prices lower, which pushes yields higher.“Hyperscaler borrowing to fund AI infrastructure is competing for the same pool of buyers at the same moment governments need those buyers most,” Nigel Green, CEO at deVere Group, said in a note. “Crowd two urgent borrowers into one market and the price of patience goes up for everybody.”A surge in bond yields can mean tighter financial conditions, which make it more costly to take out loans, and also puts pressure on the stock market.The 10-year US Treasury yield on Tuesday rose to 4.74%, trading near the highest level of President Donald Trump’s second term. The 10-year yield helps set borrowing costs across the US economy, including mortgage rates.The rise in bond yields creates complications for policymakers as governments are faced with rising debt. In the United States, the national debt is nearing a record $40 trillion.For government bonds, the yield is the interest rate the government pays to bond investors – or the government’s cost of borrowing money. The global bond sell-off is pushing up the cost of borrowing for governments in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Japan and others.Higher yields can pull investors away from stocks, while also altering analysts’ calculations for the value of stocks. US stocks opened lower Tuesday morning: The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.2%.“Bonds are on the move: a sharp rise in government bond yields around the world may start to pose a threat to equity valuations and make life even trickier for deeply indebted nations and policymakers,” Neil Wilson, a strategist at Saxo Markets, said in a note.The 30-year Treasury yield traded around 4.7% in February before the war with Iran before climbing in recent months above 5.3% to hit its highest level since 2007.Wall Street is also adjusting to Kevin Warsh’s tenure as Federal Reserve chairman. While a change in leadership at the Fed can trigger some volatility in the bond market, Chairman Warsh’s approach of less communication has added to uncertainty about how the central bank will respond to inflation and other economic shocks. And his refusal to provide forward guidance leaves investors with less clarity about where US interest rates are headed.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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