Vincent Boland: Vivendi la revolution as France finds itself at epicentre of European media upheaval

Industrialist Vincent Bolloré is using part of his $8 billion fortune to position media giant Vivendi as the key protagonist in a fast-changing landscape

Vincent Bolloré, centre, the French billionaire, with his sons Yannick, left, chairman of Vivendi SA, and Cyrille, chairman and chief executive officer of the Bolloré Group. Picture: Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg

Four of the world’s 100 richest people or families hail from France, according to the Forbes list of billionaires for 2021. That is quite an achievement for a country that, at least in the minds of some Anglo-Saxons, is ground zero for socialism, high taxes and big government. Au contraire, as they say in Paris.

The French billionaires are led, at number three, by Bernard Arnault, the man behind the LVMH fashion empire. His fortune ...