The KING of CASH

French billionaire Vincent Bolloré has built a hugely important global empire with a signature devotion to value creation

- KEITH GORDON

When Vincent Bolloré officially retired as the head of his family’s business empire in February of 2022, it was a historic day on numerous levels. For starters, the day marked the bicentenary of his family’s empire. A few months later the scion would turn 70, a cause for celebration for not only his family but for many of the most influential and powerful members of French society. After all, this is a man who is close friends with former French president Nicolas Sarkozy amongst others, and even lent Sarkozy his yacht for a quick post-election mini-holiday. He and his family are among the richest in France, with an estimated net worth of about $10 billion; Bolloré is perhaps the epitome of power, wealth and influence in modern French society.

The family empire is today worth billions of dollars with activities stretching around the globe despite its humble beginnings. Founded back in 1822 as a paper manufacturer under the name Papeteries Bolloré, the business was located on the bank of the Odet river near Quimper in the region of Brittany. For the next century and a half, the family stewarded the business into a major supplier of both Bible paper and cigarette papers (they formed the famous OCB brand).