Denis Ranque is a graduate of École Polytechnique and École des Mines. In January 1998, Denis Ranque was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Thomson-CSF group, now called Thales.
Prior to that he held positions at the French Ministry for Industry, before joining the Thomson group in 1983 as Planning Director. He subsequently became Chief Executive of Thomson Tubes Électroniques (1989), Chairman and CEO of Thomson Sintra Activités Sous-Marines (1992) and CEO of Thomson Marconi Sonar (1996).