The main manager and shareholder of Iliad, the parent company of the Internet service provider Free, Xavier Niel has a reputation as an internet troublemaker in France. With 150.2 million euros in net income and an increase of 29.7% in 2007, the man was ranked 8th richest in France by Forbes magazine in 2011.
After short studies, Xavier Niel abandoned his prep school in advanced math to start working on the pink minitel. He creates and manages servers himself, which allows him to quickly build up a small fortune. This activity in the charm network gave the man a sulphurous image which led to him being accused of aggravated pimping before benefiting from a dismissal of the charges in 2007.
In 1993, he founded Worldnet, the first Internet access provider in France, which he sold in 2000. In 1997, he had the idea of launching 3617 Annu, a reverse directory which enjoyed immediate success.
In 1999, he created Free, an Internet service provider. In 2002, Free launched an internet pack at unbeatable prices (€29.99 per month). This pack quickly became the company’s flagship product. Free subsequently launched the Freebox; a modem offering triple-play offers.
With his two accomplices, Olivier Rosenfeld, the financial director and Michael Boukobza, general director of Iliad, Xavier Niel decided on the IPO of Free in 2004. In 2005, Iliad-Free had a capitalization of 2.3 billion euros.
While the strategy of internet providers favors acquisitions and mergers, Xavier Niel swears by internal growth. In 2008, he had the opportunity to buy Alice ADSL, he hesitated then ended up seizing the opportunity which allowed him to take over 954,000 subscribers of the Internet provider. It becomes number two in the market ahead of Neuf-SFR. Alice-Free now holds 26% market share.
In January 2008, Free finally obtained the long-awaited 3G mobile telephone license, even if the latter was restrictive since it was limited to 10 million subscribers.
On January 10, 2012, Free launched its mobile phone offers, unique offers, at ridiculous prices and without commitment (unlimited plan at €19.99).
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| Main companies | |
|---|---|
| ILIAD | Founder |
| Kima Ventures SASU Investment ManagersFinance Kima Ventures SASU (KV) is an independent venture capital firm founded in 2010 by Jeremie Berrebi and Xavier Niel. The firm is headquartered in Paris, France. | Founder |
