Patrick Drahi
{{Short description|Jewish businessman and billionaire (born 1963)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Patrick Drahi
| image = Patrick Drahi, plus grand mécène privée de L'Ecole polytechnique Crédit photographique - © École polytechnique - J.Barande (19143423121) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Drahi in 2015
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|8|20|df=y}}
| birth_place = Casablanca, Morocco
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Israeli{{cite magazine |author=Eric Treguier |url=https://www.challenges.fr/high-tech/20140314.CHA1585/sfr-sera-t-il-vendu-a-un-actionnaire-qui-a-renonce-a-etre-francais.html |title=Le futur actionnaire de SFR a-t-il renoncé à être français? |magazine=Challenges |date=14 March 2014|lang=fr|quote=Or Patrick Drahi ne figure pas dans notre classement 2013 des 500 fortunes françaises paru en juillet dernier. [...] Challenges a reçu une lettre d'Alexandre Marque (Cabinet Franklin), avocat de Patrick Drahi nous sommant de ne pas intégrer son client dans notre top 500. L'argument invoqué? 'Mr Drahi a pris la nationalité israélienne et renoncé à la nationalité française.'}}.
French In 2014, Challenges magazine reported that a legal representative of Drahi had stated that he renounced his French nationality to became an Israeli national. It is unclear when he gave up his French citizenship or when he became an Israeli national. But in 2019 and later he has been described in the press as holding French, Israeli, and Portuguese citizenship.
| education = * École Polytechnique; (BEng)
- Télécom Paris; (M.SC)
| occupation = Businessman
| title = Founder and Chairman of Altice and Altice USA
| known_for =
| spouse = Lina Nazirah Zenie
| children = 4
}}
Patrick Drahi ({{IPA|fr|patʁik dʁai}}; {{langx|ar|باتريك دراحي}}; {{langx|he|פטריק דרהי}}; born 20 August 1963){{cite news |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20190617-drahi-self-made-french-cable-tycoon-with-rich-taste-art |title=Drahi, self-made French cable tycoon with rich taste in art |agency=AFP |website=France 24 |date=17 June 2019 }} is a Moroccan -Israeli billionaire magnate and investor with interests in media and telecoms.{{Cite news |date=2023-08-07 |title=Patrick Drahi, the telco tycoon facing debt woes, arrest of aide |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/patrick-drahi-telco-tycoon-facing-debt-woes-arrest-aide-2023-08-07/ |access-date=2024-09-25 |work=Reuters}} He is the founder and controlling shareholder of the European-based telecom group Altice. He lives in Switzerland.
Early life and education
Drahi was born into a Jewish family in Casablanca, Morocco. His parents both taught mathematics. When he was 15, the family moved to Montpellier, France.{{cite news |author=Nicola Clark |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/business/media/patrick-drahi-positions-himself-to-be-a-player-in-us-cable.html |title=Patrick Drahi Positions Himself to Be a Player in U.S. Cable |newspaper=The New York Times |date=7 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911083114/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/business/media/patrick-drahi-positions-himself-to-be-a-player-in-us-cable.html |archive-date=11 September 2015 }}{{cite news |author=Clara Teixeira |url=https://visao.sapo.pt/atualidade/economia/2017-09-17-quem-e-patrick-drahi-o-homem-que-quer-juntar-a-tvi-a-pt/ |website=Visāo |title=Quem é Patrick Drahi, o homem que quer juntar a TVI à PT |date=17 September 2017 |language=pt }} Drahi earned an electrical engineering degree from École Polytechnique in Paris, and a post-graduate engineering degree in optics and electronics from Télécom Paris in 1986.{{cite web|title=Patrick Drahi|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-drahi/|website=Forbes|accessdate=19 January 2015}}{{cite web|title=Patrick Drahi|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=1047760&privcapId=4291896|website=Bloomberg Business|accessdate=25 September 2015}}
Career
After completing his postgraduate degree in 1986, Drahi then began work as a fibre optics researcher at Philips. He resigned in 1990 to go into business for himself, initially consulting in the United States on investment in European cable providers. In 1994, in France, he founded Sud Câble Services; he and an American partner convinced mayors in southern France to allow them to lay cable for television in their towns. In 1998 he sold the company to John C. Malone's UPC. Drahi was paid in UPC stock and went to Geneva to work for the company. He sold his position in UPC for approximately €40 million just before the dot-com bubble burst.
In 2001, he founded the Amsterdam-based holding company Altice ATCE.AS, which soon began to buy up European cable companies. In France, he founded the French cable operator Numericable and in 2013 bought SFR, the second largest mobile phone and internet provider in the country, from media conglomerate Vivendi.{{cite news |author1=Nicholas Vinocur |author2=Leila Abboud |date=14 March 2014 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vivendi-sfr-numericable-drahi/outsider-patrick-drahi-defies-french-establishment-to-win-sfr-idUSBREA2D1LJ20140314 |title=Outsider Patrick Drahi defies French establishment to win SFR |website=Reuters }}{{cite news |author1=Matthew Campbell |author2=Maria Mawad |author3=Francois de Beaupuy |date=7 April 2014 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-04-05/vivendi-agrees-to-sell-sfr-to-altice-in-23-billion-deal |title=Vivendi Agrees to Sell SFR to Altice in $23 Billion Deal |website=Bloomberg News }} In the UK, he bought 18% of the telecom BT in 2021 and in 2023 increased his stake to 24.5%.{{cite news |author=Mark Sweney |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/23/patrick-drahi-bt-stake-altice-uk-telecoms |title=French billionaire Patrick Drahi ups BT stake to more than 24% |newspaper=The Guardian |date=23 May 2023 }}{{cite news |author=Mark Sweney |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/10/patrick-drahi-billionaire-bt-investor-telecoms |title=Who is Patrick Drahi, the billionaire who has become BT's biggest investor? |newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 June 2021 }}
Drahi owns the Israeli cable television company HOT.{{cite web|url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-patrick-drahis-altice-to-buy-cablevision-for-177b-1001068938|title=Patrick Drahi's Altice to buy Cablevision for $17.7b|website=Globes|date=17 September 2015|accessdate=31 July 2017}} In 2013 he founded the Israel-based international news channel i24news, which broadcasts in French, Arabic, and English.{{cite news |author=Amitai Ziv |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/2016-04-26/ty-article/the-ticker/0000017f-e62d-df2c-a1ff-fe7d346e0000 |title=The Ticker: i24News Valued at $113 Million in Altice Media Holdings Shake-up |newspaper=Haaretz |date=26 April 2016 }}
Altice entered the American Telecommunications market in 2015 by purchasing 70% of Suddenlink Communications, the seventh-largest cable company in the US.{{cite news |author1=Marie Mawad |author2=Elco van Groningen |author3=Gerry Smith |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-19/altice-said-to-seek-purchase-of-suddenlink-in-u-s-expansion |title=Altice to Acquire Suddenlink Stake in $9.1 Billion U.S. Deal |website=Bloomberg |date=19 May 2015}} Later in 2015, Drahi bought Cablevision from the Dolan family, renaming it Altice USA with its flagship brand Optimum being the fifth largest cable operator in the USA.{{cite news |author=Bill Chapell |date=September 17, 2015 |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/17/441145026/cablevision-5th-largest-u-s-cable-firm-to-be-sold-in-17-7-billion-deal |title=Cablevision, 5th-Largest U.S. Cable Firm, To Be Sold In $17.7 Billion Deal |website=NPR }} In 2018, the Dolans sued Altice USA over alleged violations of the terms of the sale.{{cite news |author=Dade Hayes |date=4 September 2018 |url=https://deadline.com/2018/09/dolan-family-cablevision-sues-altice-usa-news-12-colleen-mcvey-1202457058/ |title=Cablevision's Dolan Family Sues Altice Over Alleged Breach Of 2016 Merger, Claiming Ageism In News 12 Layoffs |work=Deadline }}
In September 2020, to take the company private, Drahi offered €2.5 billion to minority shareholders of Altice.{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/5db956c4-73fa-4b2b-bea9-e244bf4ce441|title=Drahi offers to take Altice Europe private in €2.5bn buyout|work=Financial Times|author1=Nic Fildes|author2=Nikou Asgari|date=11 September 2020|accessdate=12 September 2020}} An increased bid was accepted in January 2021.{{cite news |title=Billionaire Drahi gets green light to take Altice Europe private - union |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-altice-europe-buyout-agm-idUKKBN29C1MC |access-date=26 May 2022 |work=Reuters |date=7 January 2021 }}
In June 2019, Sotheby's announced it was being acquired by Drahi at a 61% market premium.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/sotheby-s-to-be-acquired-for-57-a-share-11560777058|title=Sotheby's to Be Sold, Jolting the Art World|date=2019-06-17|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=17 June 2019 |issn=0099-9660}} To cut debts and fund growth, in 2024 Drahi sold a $1bn stake to ADQ.
=Forbes ranking =
In June 2015, Forbes estimated Drahi's net worth at US$26.5 billion and ranked him as the 56th richest person in the world and the third richest in France.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-drahi/|title=#57 Patrick Drahi |work=Forbes |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629060149/https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-drahi/ |archive-date=29 June 2015}} He was ranked as the richest person in Israel until 2016, when he came in second.{{Cite news|url=http://www.themarker.com/magazine/1.2971656|title=500 העשירים: האיש שחזר לפיסגה עם 8.3 מיליארד דולר|last=אבריאל|first=איתן|newspaper=TheMarker|accessdate=10 November 2016}} {{As of|2025|03}}, Forbes lists his net worth at US$7.5 billion, ranking him 414th in the world.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-drahi/?sh=55976d3a6f9e|title=Profile: Patrick Drahi |website=Forbes |access-date=29 December 2023}}
On 15 March 2024, Drahi announced the sale of Altice Média to Rodolphe Saadé for just over €1.5 billion, in order to pay off some of the parent company's debt, estimated at €24 billion at the end of September 2023.{{cite news |title=Face au mur de la dette, Patrick Drahi contraint de vendre BFM-TV à Rodolphe Saadé |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2024/03/15/face-au-mur-de-la-dette-patrick-drahi-contraint-de-vendre-bfm-tv-a-rodolphe-saade_6222248_3234.html |work=Le Monde |language=fr|date=15 March 2024 }}
Personal life
Drahi married Lina Nazirah (née Zenie), a Greek Orthodox Syrian naturalized in Switzerland, in 1990.{{Cite news |date=2022-11-01 |title=Le patron de BFM TV Patrick Drahi est rattrapé par le fisc genevois |url=https://www.rts.ch/info/regions/geneve/13510142-le-patron-de-bfm-tv-patrick-drahi-est-rattrape-par-le-fisc-genevois.html |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=rts.ch |language=fr}}{{Cite web |title=Portrait: Patrick Drahi |url=https://www.ojim.fr/portraits/patrick-drahi-un-empire-au-coeur-du-systeme/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Ojim.fr |language=fr}} They moved to Switzerland in 1999{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2014/03/14/patrick-drahi-numericable-sfr-suisse-altice_n_4964089.html |title=Qui est Patrick Drahi, le sulfureux patron de Numericable |author=Grégory Raymond |website=Huffington Post.fr|date=14 March 2014 |language=fr }} and live in Geneva.{{Cite news |author=Adam Thomson |title=French telecoms outsider is more easyJet than jet set |url=https://www.ft.com/content/7dc9f816-0072-11e5-b91e-00144feabdc0 |newspaper=Financial Times |date=22 May 2015 }} They have four children: Graziella, who is Vice President–Growth at Altice USA,{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/ATUS/company-people/executive-profile/204144541 |title=Altice USA Inc.: Graziella Drahi |website=Wall Street Journal Market Data |access-date=29 December 2023 }} Angélina, who chairs the family's charity foundation,{{Cite news |author=Michal Galanti |title=Cornerstone laid in Jerusalem. Find out where |url=https://www.jpost.com/must/must-know/venue-telling-the-full-story-of-jerusalem-to-open-in-2022-683821 |date=2 November 2021 |access-date=19 December 2023 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post }} and twin sons David, who joined the board of directors of Altice USA in 2019,{{Cite web |title=Board of Directors |url=https://investors.alticeusa.com/corporate-governance/board-of-directors |access-date=29 December 2023 |website=Altice USA }} and Nathan, who formerly worked in London in private equity and was appointed Managing Director of Sotheby's Asia in 2021.{{cite web |url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/about/team/nathan-drahi |title=Nathan Drahi: Managing Director, Asia |website=Sotheby's |access-date=29 December 2023 }}
In 2014, Drahi and his wife Lina created their family foundation, the Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation, to support innovative programmes in the areas of science and education, entrepreneurship and innovation, the arts, and Israel and the Jewish people, through organizational grants. Incorporated in 2016 and headquartered in Zermatt, Switzerland, the foundation supports programmes in Switzerland, France and Portugal.[https://plfa.info/ PLFA Foundation website][https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.plfa_the_patrick_and_lina_drahi_foundation.8a97729102d9461fc06e0eb396e4b601.html "PLFA The Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation"] Dun & Bradstreet Directory{{cite web |url=https://www.europaweg.ch/sponsoren/plfa-the-patrick-and-lina-drahi-foundation/ |title=PLFA – The Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation |publisher=Europaweg Grachen Zermatt }}
In 2014, Drahi's lawyer informed the magazine Challenges, who intended to include him in a list of France's top 500 fortunes, that he had given up his French citizenship and taken Israeli citizenship.{{Cite web |author=Eric Treguier |date=14 March 2014 |title=Quand le futur actionnaire de SFR voulait renoncer à être Français |url=https://www.challenges.fr/high-tech/sfr-sera-t-il-vendu-a-un-actionnaire-qui-a-renonce-a-etre-francais_10113 |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Challenges |language=fr}} But he reportedly acquired Portuguese citizenship in 2015,{{cite news |author=Zvika Klein |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-712396 |title=Portuguese police search home of lawyers helping Jews get citizenship |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=18 July 2022 }} and has since been described as a citizen of all three countries.
Notes
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References
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Category:École Polytechnique alumni
Category:French mass media owners
Category:20th-century Moroccan Jews
Category:Businesspeople from Casablanca
Category:Businesspeople from Geneva
Category:Cable television company founders