Word: vivendi
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...that Simoncini was looking to become a bartender to the world. He had already founded an Internet portal called iFrance, and made a killing when he sold it to Vivendi for $200 million in 2000 amid a mad spending spree by then CEO Jean-Marie Messier...
...year working for Vivendi convinced Simoncini he wasn't cut out for corporate life. At dinner with his three closest friends - all recently divorced - the light dawned. "They all complained they couldn't meet anybody - they worked too hard, they didn't go out anymore, they were too old," recalls Simoncini, who met his wife the old-fashioned way: at a nightclub. "I said to myself, I don't know that many people, so if I know three people like this, there must be millions...
Messier sought to assemble the complete media group whose affiliates all do business with one another. Now, says the Vivendi exec, "we've reinforced our media activities in key areas and allow our affiliates to do business with whatever companies fill their needs best--whether inside or outside the group." Plug and play has supplanted media monolith. Still, Messier points to companies like News Corp. and Disney as examples of how big content providers continue to drive convergence...
...President Nicolas Sarkozy--a man he's known for 20 years and who "was one politician who never canceled any appointments" after the fall. Not surprisingly, he supports Sarkozy's dynamic entrepreneurial efforts to reform French society--a kind of cultural revolution Messier attempted within French business circles at Vivendi...
...their customers"--or face getting crowded out through "the increased dominance of Google." Playing the role of strategist and adviser in that evolution may not involve the "master of the world" role, but it will allow Messier to test his vision without the career risk that was once Vivendi...