| Xavier Niel | |
|---|---|
Xavier Niel in January 2008 |
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| Born | 25 August 1967 France |
| Occupation | Chief Strategy Officer, Iliad |
Xavier Niel, born 25 August 1967 is a French entrepreneur and businessman, active in the telecommunications and technology industry and best known as founder and majority shareholder of the French Internet service provider Iliad trading under the Free brand, owner of the newspaper Le Monde, and he is the owner of the rights of the song "My Way". He currently acts as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors & Chief Strategy Officer for Iliad [1]
His net worth is about 4.5 billion US$.
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Born to a French Catholic father and German Jewish mother, Xavier Niel started early by developing telecommunication and data services. He embarked at a young age on a entrepreneurial career. At 19, he successfully created then sold his first company, a Minitel (a French forerunner of the internet) service company. In 1993, he created with a friend the first Internet Service Provider in France, Worldnet, which he sold just before the internet bubble burst.
After taking over a company subsequently renamed Iliad, Xavier Niel launched in 1996 the 1st reversed directory service on the Minitel. This service is still responsible for 1 million euros of revenue per year for Iliad[2].
In 1999, he created Free, a French Internet service provider. In 2002, Free launched a broadband package at a low price (€ 29.99 per month), which became the benchmark in the market. At the same time, Free developed and launched the Freebox: the first triple-play multi-service box in France.
Niel remains Iliad’s majority shareholder, holding more than 64% of the share capital. In spite of intermittent rumours, he never intended to sell his shares. When Management magazine mentioned this possibility in February 2008, he replied “What would I do then if I sell? Hang around all day in my pyjamas? Analysts have been dreaming about me selling the business for years, but I don’t care. There’s more to life than mergers and acquisitions!”.
In March 2010, Xavier Niel cofounded with Jeremie Berrebi Kima Ventures [3]. This fund is dedicated to invest from 50 to 100 startups a year everywhere in the world. Kima Ventures already invested in 130 companies from February 2010 to November 2011 in 18 countries. Business insider described Xavier Niel and Jeremie Berrebi as the most active angel investors in the world[4].
In late 2010 Niel was a member of a group of investors which acquired a controlling stake in the newspaper Le Monde[5].
On May 28, 2004, Xavier Niel was indicted and detained for a month for alleged procuring and misuse of company assets, which occurred in several Sex shops he shared with other associates. On August 30, 2005, a Nolle prosequi was pronounced for the procuring part of his indictment, but he was condemned on October 13, 2006, to 2 years of deferred jail sentence for the misuse of company assets[6].