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Despite the imposing façade of its Parisian site on rue de Tocqueville, where the School was first set up in 1881, HEC Paris didn’t become one of the big players until the 20th Century. With its strong focus on business studies, which was considered a rather undignified activity at the time, the School ambitioned to challenge the well-established models of universities like the Polytechnique, Centrale or Mines. It didn’t take long though for HEC to become the “Grande École” that it is today. According to recent press reports, it seems HEC graduates stand shoulder to shoulder with engineers at the top of French CAC 40 firms with the highest market caps.