We investigate the signal on the stock market of the attribution by politicians to business executives of the French highest national award –the légion d’honneur (LH). Distinguishing awards due to pure performance, or also to political connections, we aim in particular to contribute by differentiating the effects of concealed or unknown, out in the open, and unabashed political connections. We identify political connections through shared educational curricula in the Grandes Écoles, and consider the 46,147 recipients of the LH between April 1995 and January 2019. Our analysis focuses on abnormal returns of a set of about 1,000 quoted firms whose board members are awarded a LH. This is a preliminary version of the research and results are therefore not detailed here yet.