Le Monde news daily sold to billionaire trio
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| A trio of French businessmen won control of leading French news daily Le Monde on Monday despite government efforts to halt the takeover. Founded in 1944, Le Monde has struggled to stay afloat in the Internet age. |
AFP – A French internet billionaire, a patron of the arts and a flamboyant banker won control of Le Monde newspaper on Monday despite President Nicolas Sarkozy’s bid to stop them. |
The trio includes Xavier Niel, an internet entrepreneur who first made his money from sex chat services and later shook up the French internet market with cheap connection packages. |
With him is Pierre Berge, the super-rich partner of the late fashion guru Yves Saint-Laurent, and Matthieu Pigasse, a senior figure at investment bank Lazard who owns the alternative news and culture magazine Les Inrockuptibles. |
Their bid won the approval of the paper’s supervisory board, 11 of whose members voted for it, a source close to the board told AFP. |
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