Like Odilo, Hugh would also prove an astonishingly durable abbot, remaining in office for sixty years. In that time he continued where Odilo had left off: reinforcing the sense that the abbot of Cluny was a natural peer to kings and popes, exerting his political power across Europe, and seeing to it that Cluny stayed institutionally rich. Hugh was a brilliant administrator with a sharp eye for business. Under his leadership the Cluniac network grew toward its peak of around 1,500 houses.
