Vincent Bolloré

"Vincent Bolloré, a few months after taking over the chairmanship of the supervisory board from his friend Fourtou. "I firmly believe in the value of French culture, in the face of an annoying American model and an Asian model that we don't understand.""

"This operation, incredible for Vivendi shareholders and especially for the first among them, also suits Bolloré for two reasons: "Vincent doesn't like doing business in the United States," notes his friend Henri Lachmann, who closely accompanied his first steps on Vivendi's supervisory board."

"All the cousins meet every summer in front of the bay of Canoubiers. In this hideaway, a stone's throw from the Les Parcs residence, which houses the "rich and famous"-Bernard Arnault, Francis Holder (Paul bakeries), Lakshmi Mittal, Mohamed Al-Fayed (Harrods)...-Vincent Bolloré has spread out: around La Pêcherie, his first waterfront villa, next to a slightly rusty boat garage where dinghies are stored, he has taken over all available land so that each of his children has their independence. In the middle of this Bolloré village, a tennis court:"

"Canal, the word is out, for the worst, this time. Because, contrary to what he claimed in the Financial Times, Vincent Bolloré has settled in the heart of the machine, as soon as he saw the accounts in the red. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, he is present at 7 a.m., in the office of the former CEO, Bertrand Méheut, fired in the summer, without delicacy but with comfortable compensation, like twenty-two of the management executives. A statement from the new owner-boss, uttered in front of a union representative-"The top management of a large house deserves a bit of terror"-will become the symbol of this takeover. As Bolloré says, "I create an atmosphere"..."

""Ultimately, being an entrepreneur means being optimistic about the ability of men and women to build and rebuild, over and over again," concludes Vincent Bolloré at the autumn of his professional life, at the end of the article he wrote for the "Dictionnaire amoureux de l'entreprise et des entrepreneurs" (Plon), conveniently published a hundred days before the scheduled date of February 17, 2022. The Americans often quote this phrase: "We try, we fail, we fix"... We must undertake-we must continue despite the unforeseen challenges to which we will adapt well. The same goes for succession: it must be organized and we must believe that, in any case, the company will know how to continue and adapt to our ever-changing world.""

"At this time, Vincent Bolloré still feels the need to defend his actions externally (" We had to go commando to turn Canal around") and his intuitions: "The prices are both too high and not high enough. We will make Canal cheaper for the young, and more expensive for the enthusiasts. And we will create staircase steps.""

"There are now two remaining obstacles to overcome to perfect the operation. The first is in the hands of the Competition Directorate in Brussels. If the new Hachette-Editis combination wants to rise to the top spot worldwide, it must not lose too many publishing houses along the way. However, due to Editis' strong position in France, the combination of the two groups exceeds 50% market share in paraschool, dictionaries, paperback books, and tourism. Sacrifices will have to be made. But for victory to be complete, Vincent Bolloré must also recover Bernard Arnault's shares, again without giving up too many assets."

"Vincent Bolloré theorized this necessity of "conquests," as long as he wanted to remain the master of his capital and his destiny. "What we need in France is a capitalism of exploration, independence, and perseverance," he summarizes in his very wise interview with Paris Match, always at the turn of the century. This is what we do in the Bolloré Group, which remains deeply attached to the region where it was born, Brittany, but does not hesitate to be as efficient as American capitalism by carrying out profitable financial operations."

"So let's summarize: since entering Vivendi in 2012, the Bolloré group has received 660 million euros in Vivendi shares for its TNT channels, 1.34 billion euros in dividends, the equivalent of 1.4 billion euros saved through capital reductions, 2.4 billion euros through the acquisition of 60% of Havas, and a final asset of 8 billion euros in UMG shares. In total: nearly 14 billion euros that have benefited Bolloré during this prodigious decade. Of course, to enable this succession of operations, it was necessary to take risks and invest: tens of millions of euros to initially finance the annual losses of the TNT channels, hundreds of millions of euros to establish an impregnable position in Havas, and billions to strengthen their position in Vivendi. The true cost of Bolloré's takeover of Vivendi, Vincent Bolloré keeps to himself, likely between 3 and 4 billion euros. On the other hand, he has already earned three or four times more... and he still holds his 27% stake in Vivendi, even if it has become smaller. Hats off to the artist!"

"It's Antoine Bernheim, a legendary figure in Lazard Bank, with his unwavering three-piece suit even in the heatwave, and mentor to Vincent Bolloré in his early years, who inoculated the green-white-red virus into the entrepreneur. And by the way, the first dose was served on a silver platter by the Italians themselves: "I know a very intelligent boy, I am a friend of the family, and he needs help," Bernheim confided to the Agnelli, the owners of Fiat, for whom he was, at Lazard, the gateway to France."

"The cunning banker, who spoke an Italian like a pizza maker, had already helped the people from Turin diversify their capital beyond the automotive industry, and take significant stakes in the capital of L'Oréal and Air liquide. So, investing a $ 100 million ticket in Albatros Investissement, one of the holdings through which Vincent Bolloré kept control of his group-the famous "Breton pulleys" invented by the financier-should not have been a bad investment. "And the Agnelli family is so rich...," as Bernheim used to say, with all his ambiguity towards the powers of money."

"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.""

"Years later, it was in the opposite direction that money would fly over the Alps. The same Bernheim, though well-versed in Italian affairs, had ingloriously lost the presidency of insurer Generali in 1999: "They dismissed me like a valet who would have stolen from the drawers of the house," he bitterly complains. From this wound obviously arises a desire for revenge, of which Vincent Bolloré, always in search of an opportunity, will be the perfect instrument. "He was a friend of the family," confirms the entrepreneur. "When I took over my father's company, I had lunch with him. Since then, we have not been separated. Behind everything I have done, Antoine has always been there." This is particularly true for Italy."

""Unfortunately, it's a fact, the results of Canal + 2015 show a loss of over 260 million euros,” Vincent Bolloré details, on what would be his last public appearance. "What have we done? We have not implemented any redundancy plan. Out of the eight thousand employees of the Canal + group, we have only changed twenty-one executives, who have benefited from extraordinarily pleasant financial conditions. I completely understand the passengers' emotion when they learn that there is no more fuel and that we need to refuel while they thought everything was fine. I understand the concern. There is always something interesting to learn from criticism, even the most unpleasant ones. I come from the West, where the oyster, under the lemon, moves, even if the oyster remains an oyster. But unfortunately, as a manager, I cannot turn a blind eye to such a situation. I think people have cried wolf because they don't want to go on a diet! Why is my popularity not very high at Canal? Simply because we have reduced lavish lifestyles!""

"The subject is not yet that: there are excellent official bios, like the incomparable Vincent Bolloré, a family story (Jean Picollec, 2007)-thanks to its author, Jean Bothorel, for his friendly advice-and very good books that did not have the imprimatur, such as Vincent Bolloré, investigation of a capitalist above all suspicion (Denoël, 2000), whose authors, Nathalie Raulin and Renaud Lecadre, "tell a story as it can be reconstructed," they write, with all the precision of journalists from Libération. Thanks to them as well."

"Three financial operations-Pathé, Lazard, Vallourec-and seven years later, Alain de Pouzilhac, then CEO of Havas, experienced the surprise of a phone call, also initially giving the benefit of the doubt to the raider: "It was July 20, 2004. I was at the headquarters of Havas in Suresnes when Vincent Bolloré called me-he was, I believe, on his boat, on a cruise. He immediately addressed me informally. 'Alain,' he said to me, 'I think Havas is undervalued but on the path to recovery. I took advantage of it to buy, without exceeding 5%.' At first, I was pleasantly surprised that an investor of his reputation was interested in us-it was a sign of confidence, after a terrible year in 2003. Maybe a chance for Havas, which wanted a stable shareholder. So, initially, his approach seemed positive to me. To the point that, when studying our bid for the acquisition of the American company Grey, I deemed it necessary to inform him. He immediately replied, 'I don't want to know anything, so as not to be informed, and to continue buying shares on the stock market.' And that's what he did. Since then, I have met with Vincent Bolloré on four occasions, but it is impossible to learn more about his intentions. I still don't know if he is a raider, with 20% of Havas, intending to dismantle or sell the company, or an industrialist who wants to create a major media group. Is he trying to take control of the company without paying the price? Absolutely not! I don't make it a question of individuals-investing around 300 million euros in Havas is very respectful.""

"energy, Bolloré summarized his group as follows: "The recurring businesses, which are rarely talked about, generate annual revenues of 400 to 450 million euros. We extract from this 250 to 300 million to invest in future-oriented projects." Africa in the 1980s, Rivaud in the 1990s, media with the turn of the century... And always energy storage. "We invest where no one else goes," Vincent Bolloré repeats tirelessly, to justify the family lock on the capital and "the stability of its shareholding, which allows it to pursue a long-term investment policy," as stated on the first page of Bolloré's annual report. "Without that, I would have been fired three times already," adds the entrepreneur more bluntly, who believes-rightly-that conventional investors would never have followed him in the attack on Delmas-Vieljeux, the raid on Bouygues, or the crazy bet on batteries: no less than 3 billion euros invested over the past twenty-five years in energy storage!"

"From Vincent Bolloré to Carlo De Benedetti, passing through Jean-Charles Naouri and François Pinault, many exhausted the charms of capital-less capitalism in the 1980s."

"Jean-Luc Lagardère, Vincent Bolloré, Jean-Charles Naouri, François Pinault,"

"To achieve this, he benefited from the support of Antoine Bernheim, the all-powerful managing partner of Lazard Bank, during the period from 1967-2005, who carefully watched over his steps as he had done before with Bernard Arnault, Vincent Bolloré, and François Pinault."

"he fought tooth and nail against Vincent Bolloré when the latter launched a stock raid against the group in the fall of 1997 to impose its dismantling. The choices were to either sell off the construction division to finance the development of new businesses or to divest one of the service activities. The battle ended a year later with Martin's victory and the exit of the "little prince of cash flow" from the capital with a gain of 1. 5 billion francs."

"Carlo De Benedetti, Jean-Luc Lagardère and Vincent Bolloré are closely inspired by it. Bernard Arnault, on the other hand, will go so far as to build a real pyramid. The interest of the system lies in its far-sighted philosophy. From a minimal investment, it will be possible to target much larger targets, while carefully avoiding launching a costly takeover bid."

"he became the historic mentor of industrialists Bernard Arnault and Vincent Bolloré, and to a lesser extent the advisor of François Pinault, as well as Nicolas Sarkozy, at least in his early years. He also counts among his European "protégés": Italian John Elkann, the heir to the Agnelli dynasty, or banker Gerardo Braggiotti, also a former Lazard associate."

"Often cited as an example, the multiplier effect model of the pulley system will be implemented by Vincent Bolloré, with the help of Antoine Bernheim, in 1988. Through a cascade of six holdings, the Breton industrialist owns 60% of Finfranline, which owns 51% of Omnium Bolloré, which in turn controls 51% of Financière V, which owns 51% of Sofibol (like Bolloré), itself the owner of 51% of Financière de l'Odet, a shareholder of 51% of Albatros Investissements, which in turn holds 40% of Bolloré Technologies17. Astutely, this arrangement allowed Vincent Bolloré to gain control, with an initial investment of 50 million francs (equivalent to 1.3% of the capital of Bolloré Technologies), of a group with a market capitalization of 3 billion francs."

"Vincent Bolloré possesses a curious blend of innocence and boldness, mixed with a certain cunning spirit that is occasionally found among the Bretons."

"The managing partner of Lazard bank is considered the main inventor of the "Breton pulleys" system (also known as the "Russian dolls" system), which has greatly contributed to the fortune of his two main protégés: Bernard Arnault and, especially, Vincent Bolloré, who originated the mechanism's denomination."

""It was natural, since everything I have comes from him. I am very happy to be his driver in Italy. Moreover, I call his driver 'colleague' when we meet at airports," Vincent Bolloré jokes as he does not hesitate to praise his mentor. "I have immense gratitude towards him because Antoine has always shown exceptional loyalty towards me. Antoine's strength is that he is a constant genius. Most people help you when you're doing well and withdraw when you're not. That's not the case with him.""

"In 1991, Vincent Bolloré took over the maritime company Delmas-Vieljeux, founded in La Rochelle by the Delmas brothers, Franck and Julien, in 1967. The company specialized in transport to Africa. In order to achieve this, he did not hesitate to incur considerable debt. As the leading private French shipowner, the company has a large fleet of cargo ships registered in the Bahamas and the Kerguelen Islands. Despite strong resistance, Vincent Bolloré will succeed in attracting various shareholders to his offer, notably the influential Claude Bébéar, who holds 34% of Delmas-Vieljeux."

""Vincent Bolloré started with a business that existed but was not worth much. We chose a number of targets, one in tobacco, and then a chartering company: Scac," recalls Antoine Bernheim."

""Antoine Bernheim has a remarkable foresight and an exceptional ability to synthesize," Vincent Bolloré adds. "He is not only a visionary, but also an actor. He is amazingly practical. He doesn't just have ideas, he applies them. Furthermore, he has a huge heart, which means that everything is done with great sensitivity and humanity. This sets him apart from other great financial geniuses who we often hear about.""

"Every summer, the magazine Le Point inevitably maps out the topography of this small pocket of billionaires, between the Parks of Saint-Tropez, where the Belgian Albert Frère rubs shoulders with Bernard Arnault and Mohammed Al-Fayed, and the Bay of Canebiers, where Vincent Bolloré's villa is adjacent to that of the widow of Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan. A little further away, Carla Bruni's family "camp" at the extreme tip of Cap Negre, at the end of Cavaliere Beach, well sheltered from prying eyes, halfway between Saint-Tropez and Fort de Brégançon. Nevertheless, Vincent Bolloré remains a special case in Antoine Bernheim's hunting ground."

"Elysée. The entire Parisian business elite, at the forefront of which are Vincent Bolloré, but also Louis Schweitzer, Jacques Séguéla, Jean-Louis Beffa, or Jean-François Cirelli..., will flock to the reception organized at the Pavillon Gabriel in honor of his recent "elevation", where Antoine Bernheim, with his livid face resembling the murdered Marat, will evoke his past as a resistance fighter."

"1-The New Observer of June 24, 1999, "Fric-frac at Lazard", by Olivier Toscer. 2-The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co, by William D. Cohan, Doubleday, 2007. 3-Financial Times of September 18, 2010. 4-The Jews, the World and Money, by Jacques Attali, LGF, Paris, 2003. 5-Sociology of Money, by Damien de Blic and Jeanne Lazarus, cited in. 6-Interview with the author. 7-Vincent Bolloré, angel or demon?, by Nicolas Cori and Muriel Gremillet, Hugo Doc Editions, January 2008. 8-Interview with the author. 9-The Birth of Bridge, Origins of the Game and Evolution of the Rules, 1850-1933, by Jean-Louis Counil, Dag Games Editions, 2004."

"At the Fouquet's, during the famous little party among friends intended to celebrate Nicolas Sarkozy's "victory," the two barons of capitalism looked at each other like cats and dogs. At the wedding of his son Yannick to Chloé Bouygues, Martin's niece, on June 17, 2006, at the Armenonville pavilion, Vincent Bolloré even allegedly confided, "When my son told me he was marrying a Bouygues, I thought of that sketch by Muriel Robin where her daughter tells her she wants to marry a Black man, and she responds: a Black man... black?"..."