Telecom Tycoon Patrick Drahi Faces Creditors Amid Corruption Scandal

"It’s important for him to speak up. Until proven otherwise, Altice is the victim of all this," commented Arthur Dreyfuss, CEO of Altice France, one of Patrick Drahi’s close associates, on Wednesday. The unions and some shareholders denounce the management methods of the telecoms tycoon, who started his career at Philips before being recruited by UPC, the European subsidiary of the John Malone group Liberty Global, his model. Born to mathematics professors in Casablanca on August 20, 1963, Patrick Drahi arrived in France at the age of 15, reports Challenges.

After these first jobs, the Franco-Israeli created his company by buying up small, troubled regional cable operators. Noos, which became Numericable, later sees the light of day in France. The businessman then buys SFR (13.4 billion euros) in 2014, then Portugal Telecom (7.4 billion euros). The following year, he acquires Suddenlink in the United States (9 billion dollars) and Cablevision (17.7 billion dollars). He is also interested in the audiovisual sector in France and buys RMC and BFMTV, which has allowed him to strengthen his weight in the media.

"I sleep much more easily with 50 billion (euros) of debt than with the first 50,000 francs I contracted when I created my company," Patrick Drahi, the man who likes to take risks, said in 2016 before a Senate committee. In September 2020, he had decided to delist his Altice Europe group from the Amsterdam stock exchange, which he considered undervalued. An operation that was to cost more than three billion euros. But the group’s debt has risen considerably and is considered "highly speculative" by rating agencies.

To relaunch, the group has decided to sell assets, including part of the masts of its mobile networks in France and Portugal. At the same time, Patrick Drahi has joined the capital of BT, the historic British operator. His management is strongly criticized by the unions, who denounce job cuts and drastic budget cuts. Patrick Drahi, a tax resident in Switzerland where he has lived for 35 years, is the 13th richest Frenchman according to the 2023 ranking of Challenges, with estimated assets of 10.7 billion euros.