Xavier Niel

Niel is the Iliad Group’s founder and majority shareholder. He is a self-taught entrepreneur and has been active in the data communications, Internet and telecommunications industry since the late 1980s. Prior to devoting himself full-time to the Group’s development, in 1993 he co-founded France’s first ISP, Worldnet. Subsequently, after founding 3617 ANNU, the leading reverse look-up directory service on Minitel, in 1999 he went on to create Free – France’s first free-access ISP.

Niel is the inspiration behind the Group’s major strategic developments. For example, in 2002 he invented the Freebox – the first multi-services box providing households with access to a triple-play offering (Internet, telephone and television). Through the innovation of the Freebox and its €29.99/month broadband offering he revolutionized the landline Internet access market, providing consumers with lower prices and straightforward offerings. With Free, Niel has been the architect behind numerous innovations in the Internet access market (VoIP, IPTV, flat-rate calling plans to multiple destinations, 4K, etc.). In January 2012, Free shook up the French telecommunications market once again by launching its mobile telephony offerings, in the form of two straightforward no-commitment plans at very attractive prices.

With a deep-seated passion for innovation, and always on the lookout for new acquisitions, Mr. Niel has also invested in the telecommunications sector for many years in a personal capacity. In 2011, together with Michaël Boukobza (former CEO of Iliad), he launched Israel’s fifth mobile operator: Golan Telecom. Subsequently, in the spring of 2014 he bought Monaco Telecom, followed by Orange Suisse (since renamed “Salt”) at the end of that year.

Similarly, Niel has launched numerous initiatives in the digital sector, including the creation of “42” in March 2013 – a revolutionary IT school with an innovative peer-to-peer learning system. Located in Paris, it trains 1,000 developers a year, is free of charge, and selects its students based on talent and motivation rather than academic criteria. After its huge success in France, 42 has been launched in the United States (Fremont, California).

In parallel, Niel is a major investor in web start-ups, through his own venture capital fund – Kima Ventures – which invests in 50 to 100 start-ups a year throughout the world. In addition, with a view to supporting and partnering entrepreneurs by giving them a suitable setting for developing their companies, he is creating Station-F, the world’s biggest startup campus which is based in Paris in la Halle Freyssinet building and will open its doors in 2017.

In addition to telecoms and digital, Niel also invests in the media sector, and in 2010 he became a co-shareholder of the Le Monde newspaper alongside Pierre Bergé and Matthieu Pigasse. Since the summer of 2014 Niel, Pierre Bergé and Matthieu Pigasse have also been the joint owners of the weekly magazine L’Obs and Rue89.