Challenges

"Bolloré is already speaking like Séguéla's tycoon: "We want to invest in the media in France, maybe tomorrow in Europe," he tells Challenges. "Not out of fascination, but out of interest in these industries and a concern to prolong the group beyond 2022, the date I have set for my departure. To interest my heirs, it is better to be in a growing field that they find interesting.""

"It must be said that the holder of the second greatest fortune in the world has enough to impress, even Bolloré, twenty times less endowed, according to Challenges' ranking. The latter acknowledges it with humor, when he says to those around him: "He is truly stronger than me. If I had invested the money I earned in LVMH stocks, I would be much richer...". However, the two billionaires started their journey almost at the same time, in the early 1980s, following very parallel paths, without almost ever crossing paths: they are only known to have one common investment, before Lagardère: the music channel Mezzo, acquired on a 50/ 50 basis by Les Échos (owned by LVMH) and Canal +, in July 2019. But for the rest, what similarities!"

"Jean-Marie Messier, who would have every reason to be bitter, has blessed the whip given by his distant successor: "There was a gap between 2002 and 2014 in terms of digital strategy," reported the former CEO of Vivendi to Challenges magazine."

"Vincent Bolloré always has his own truth. From the raid on Delmas Vieljeux in 1989 (" I swear to you, my dear Tristan, that I didn't acquire any shares") to the latest takeover attempt on Ubisoft in 2016 (" Just a liquidity investment," he assured the Guillemot brothers), his initial approach is always a theatrical response. The magazine Challenges had the clever idea (for the reader) and painful idea (for the applicants) of having them recount their own experiences with the liar Bolloré, which were both unique and repetitive. And it was Martin Bouygues, CEO of the family group, who made the most sincere confession: "I had just returned from a trip to Africa. On December 9, 1997, Vincent Bolloré called me. 'Dear Martin,' he said, 'I have a fantastic image of your group, I just picked up 8.7% of the capital on the stock market.' He portrayed his approach as friendly, constantly calling me 'my buddy Martin'-even though we had only spent one year together in primary school! Up until then, everything was going well. But in the spring of 1998, Bolloré started expressing doubts about our strategy, particularly regarding telecommunications, and he never mentioned it to me before! In April, he even threatened not to approve the financial statements, putting pressure on the directors... And all the while, he continued to acquire shares on the stock market, reaching 12.4% of the capital. [...] Bolloré took me for a fool. But I didn't let him get away with it! Throughout this whole ordeal, he behaved like a thug. He deceived, manipulated, and humiliated me. I will never forget.""

"The businessman, whose fortune was estimated at 210 million euros that year by Challenges magazine, placing him 202nd in France, sets up his own business. He takes over the capital of the French holding company Louis-Dreyfus SAS, which holds 39. 4% of gas and electricity supplier Direct Énergie and 50% of Neoen (solar energy) and renames the whole company Impala."