Bollore, who holds just over 20% of Havas, had gathered support from a number of investors and was said to have gathered at least 30% of Havas' voting rights earlier this week.
Bollore had the support of Axa, which owns 1% of Havas, and shareholder group Deminor.
De Pouzilhac had gathered a rival group to block Bollore's demands at today's AGM in Paris and was believed to have been supported by Proxinvest in France and Institutional Shareholder Services in the US.
It had been expected that shareholders would reject Bollore's request. Bollore will now join the board along with four other nominees after he won backing from 59.31% of shareholder votes.
At the meeting, Bollore sought to reassure shareholders telling them that he was not a short-term investor in Havas.
"We think Havas has made unfortunate investments abroad, and this is why its share price collapsed. I am not a wolf; nor am I Darth Vader. I have said that we wish to stay in Havas for the long term," Bollore told the AGM.
Prior to the vote, De Pouzilhac used the meeting to reiterate his opposition to Bollore who he has accused of being disloyal to Havas and blocking its efforts last year to take over Grey Global Group.
"There is an absence of clarity on his intentions and strategy, and there has been a breakdown of trust. The furore over Havas must stop, and it is time for the shareholders to give their verdict. I will fully respect their decision," De Pouzilhac said.
With Bollore now having a say in running the company the future of De Pouzilhac could be in doubt. His bitter opposition to Bollore will make for a bumpy ride.
There was speculation before the vote that a Bollore victory could see a break-up of the company.
Havas has lost a number of accounts of major account of late including the $300m global Intel account and the $350m Volkswagen account.
Its media agency MPG lacks scale internationally, although there was better news today for the Havas-owned Euro RSCG, it beat Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis to the £20m account for News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun and the News of the World.
As the meeting got under way, some Havas staff were seen outside the Maison de la Chimie handing out leaflets that read "Don't touch my Havas" and "We do not want an uncertain future with a raider".
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