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'''Patrick Drahi''' ({{IPA-fr|patʁik dʁai}}; {{lang-he|פטריק דרהי}}; born 20 August 1963) is an Israeli billionaire [[business magnate|magnate]] and investor with interests in media and telecoms.<ref name="Nationality"/> A former French citizen,<ref name="Nationality"/> he has been living in [[Switzerland]] since 1999.<ref name="huffpost">{{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 |date=14 March 2014 }}.</ref> He is the founder and controlling shareholder of the European-based telecom group [[Altice (company)|Altice]], listed on the European [[Euronext]] Stock Exchange and Patrick Drahi also owns 24.5%<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c8391f19-cd33-43a5-b68b-3f3987f82cf4 | title=Patrick Drahi’s Altice lifts stake in BT to almost 25%|date=24 May 2023 }}</ref> of [[BT Group]].
'''Patrick Drahi''' ({{IPA-fr|patʁik dʁai}}; {{lang-ar|باتريك دراحي}}; {{lang-he|פטריק דרהי}}; born 20 August 1963) is an Israeli billionaire [[business magnate|magnate]] and investor with interests in media and telecoms.<ref name="Nationality"/> A former French citizen,<ref name="Nationality"/> he has been living in [[Switzerland]] since 1999.<ref name="huffpost">{{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 |date=14 March 2014 }}.</ref> He is the founder and controlling shareholder of the European-based telecom group [[Altice (company)|Altice]], listed on the European [[Euronext]] Stock Exchange and Patrick Drahi also owns 24.5%<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c8391f19-cd33-43a5-b68b-3f3987f82cf4 | title=Patrick Drahi’s Altice lifts stake in BT to almost 25%|date=24 May 2023 }}</ref> of [[BT Group]].


==Early life==
==Early life==

Revision as of 16:15, 7 December 2023

Patrick Drahi
Drahi in 2015
Born (1963-08-20) 20 August 1963 (age 60)
Casablanca, Morocco
NationalityIsraeli[1]
French (formerly)[nt 1]
EducationÉcole Polytechnique
OccupationBusinessman
Known forFounder of Altice, owns 24.5% BT Group
TitleChairman of Altice and Altice USA
SpouseLina Nazirah Zenie
Children4

Patrick Drahi (French pronunciation: [patʁik dʁai]; Arabic: باتريك دراحي; Hebrew: פטריק דרהי; born 20 August 1963) is an Israeli billionaire magnate and investor with interests in media and telecoms.[1] A former French citizen,[1] he has been living in Switzerland since 1999.[2] He is the founder and controlling shareholder of the European-based telecom group Altice, listed on the European Euronext Stock Exchange and Patrick Drahi also owns 24.5%[3] of BT Group.

Early life

Drahi was born in Casablanca, Morocco to a Jewish family. When he was 15 years old, the family moved to Montpellier, France.[4] His parents are both maths teachers. Drahi has an engineering degree from École Polytechnique in Paris, and a post-graduate degree in optics and electronics from Télécom Paris.[5][6]

Business career

Drahi's business career began when he and an American partner convinced mayors in southern France to allow them to lay cable for television in their towns. This company was later sold 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 Euros just before the dot-com bubble burst.[7] In 2001, he founded the Amsterdam-based holding company Altice ATCE.AS, which soon began to buy up European cable companies.[7]

Drahi owns the Israeli cable television company HOT.[8]

In 2013, Drahi founded the international news channel i24news, based in Israel, and broadcasting in French, Arabic, and English.[9]

Drahi founded the French cable operator Numericable.[7] In 2013, Drahi bought SFR, the second largest mobile phone and internet provider in France, from media conglomerate Vivendi.[10]

Drahi and his group Altice entered the American telecommunications market in 2015 by purchasing a 70 per cent stake in Suddenlink Communications, the seventh-largest cable company in the US. Suddenlink is valued at $9.1 billion.[11] Also 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.[12] In 2018, the Dolans sued Altice USA over alleged violations of the terms of the sale.[13]

As of November 2015, Forbes estimated Drahi's net worth at $10.3 billion. Forbes ranked him as the 60th-richest person in the world, the third-richest person in France.[14] He was ranked as the richest person in Israel, until 2016, when he came in second.[8][15]

In June 2019, Sotheby's announced it was being acquired by Drahi at a 61% market premium.[16]

In September 2020, to take the company private, Drahi offered €2.5 billion to minority shareholders of Altice.[17] An increased bid was accepted in January 2021.[18]

On 5 March 2021, Forbes listed his net worth at US$11.7 billion, ranking him 248 on the Billionaires 2020 list.[19]

Personal life

Drahi is married to his wife Lina Nazirah (née Zenie), a Greek Orthodox Syrian naturalized in Switzerland.[20][21][22][23][24] They live in Geneva, Switzerland.[25][26] They have four children, daughters Angélina and Graziella, and twin sons Nathan and David: Angélina had a spell at Altice USA as a data analyst and data science manager but now chairs the Drahi family's charity foundation and lives in Israel with her husband and their newborn daughter.[27]; Graziella joined Altice USA in 2017 and is now the Senior Vice President for Growth and she also lives in Israel;[28] Nathan, now based in Hong Kong, is Managing Director of Sotheby's Asia after being appointed by Drahi in 2021, having previously worked in London in private equity at BC Partners and investment banking at JPMorgan after graduting from HEC Lausanne with a Bachelor of Science in Management;[29][30] David joined Altice USA's board of directors in 2019, with a DPhil in Atomic and Laser Physics from the University of Oxford, a Masters in Optics and Photonics from the Imperial College of London, and a Bachelor of Physics at Ecole Polytechnique in Lausanne.[31]

In 2013, Drahi's lawyer had said in a statement to Challenges, who were going to include him in a list of France's top 500 fortunes, that he had given up his French citizenship and has adopted Israeli citizenship.[1]

In 2014, Drahi and his wife Lina created their family foundation, the Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation (PLFA) to support innovative programs 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 programs in Switzerland, France and Portugal.[32][33][34]

Notes

  1. ^ In a 2014 article for Challenges, the magazine reported that representatives from Drahi had stated he renounced his French nationality to became an Israeli national. And thus, his wealth should not count as being "French". It is unclear when he gave up his French citizenship or when he became an Israeli national.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Le futur actionnaire de SFR a-t-il renoncé à être français?" (in French). 14 March 2014. 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..
  2. ^ Grégory Raymond (14 March 2014). "Qui est Patrick Drahi, le sulfureux patron de Numericable"..
  3. ^ "Patrick Drahi's Altice lifts stake in BT to almost 25%". 24 May 2023.
  4. ^ - Visao Sapo - Quem é Patrick Drahi, o homem que quer juntar a TVI à PT
  5. ^ "Patrick Drahi". Forbes. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Patrick Drahi". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  7. ^ a b c Vinocur, Nicholas and Abboud, Leila (March 14, 2014) "Outsider Patrick Drahi defies French establishment to win SFR" Reuters. "Patrick Drahi, Franco-Israeli businessman and founder of Numericable..."
  8. ^ a b "Globes English - Patrick Drahi's Altice to buy Cablevision for $17.7b". globes.co.il. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Billionaire Drahi Set to Expand International Media Holdings". Wall Street Journal. 22 June 2015.
  10. ^ Campbell, Matthew; Mawad, Maria; and de Beaupuy, Francois (April 7, 2014) "Vivendi Agrees to Sell SFR to Altice in $23 Billion Deal" Bloomberg News
  11. ^ "Patrick Drahi's Altice Enters U.S.A. With Suddenlink Deal; Clash of Telco/Cable Titans Looms". Forbes. 22 June 2015.
  12. ^ Chapell, Bill (September 17, 2015) "Cablevision, 5th-Largest U.S. Cable Firm, To Be Sold In $17.7 Billion Deal" NPR
  13. ^ Hayes, Dade (September 4, 2018) "Cablevision’s Dolan Family Sues Altice Over Alleged Breach Of 2016 Merger, Claiming Ageism In News 12 Layoffs" Deadliine
  14. ^ "#57 Patrick Drahi". Forbes. 22 June 2015.
  15. ^ אבריאל, איתן. "500 העשירים: האיש שחזר לפיסגה עם 8.3 מיליארד דולר". TheMarker. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  16. ^ "Sotheby's to Be Sold, Jolting the Art World". Wall Street Journal. 17 June 2019. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  17. ^ Nic Fildes; Nikou Asgari (11 September 2020). "Drahi offers to take Altice Europe private in €2.5bn buyout". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  18. ^ "Billionaire Drahi gets green light to take Altice Europe private - union". Reuters. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  19. ^ "Eyal Ofer".
  20. ^ https://www.rts.ch/info/regions/geneve/13510142-le-patron-de-bfm-tv-patrick-drahi-est-rattrape-par-le-fisc-genevois.html
  21. ^ https://www.ojim.fr/portraits/patrick-drahi-un-empire-au-coeur-du-systeme/
  22. ^ https://www.challenges.fr/high-tech/20140317.CHA1624/comment-patrick-drahi-le-patron-de-numericable-a-bati-sa-fortune.html
  23. ^ https://www.challenges.fr/high-tech/sfr-sera-t-il-vendu-a-un-actionnaire-qui-a-renonce-a-etre-francais_10113
  24. ^ https://www.challenges.fr/high-tech/telecoms/comment-patrick-drahi-dirige-son-empire-chez-altice_501317
  25. ^ Financial Times: "French telecoms outsider is more easyJet than jet set" by Adam Thomson 22 May 2015 |"He spends his weekends at his home in Geneva with his Syrian Christian (Greek Orthodox) wife"
  26. ^ Altice's savvy 'playbook' fuels rapid growth at telecoms group 24 February 2015, Financial Times, Adam Thomson in Paris and Arash Massoudi in London
  27. ^ https://www.jpost.com/must/must-know/venue-telling-the-full-story-of-jerusalem-to-open-in-2022-683821
  28. ^ https://il.linkedin.com/in/graziella-drahi-7983b038
  29. ^ https://www.sothebys.com/en/about/team/nathan-drahi
  30. ^ https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nathandrahi
  31. ^ https://investors.alticeusa.com/corporate-governance/board-of-directors
  32. ^ PLFA Foundation website
  33. ^ "PLFA The Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation" Dun & Bradstreet Directory
  34. ^ "PLFA – The Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation" Europaweg Grachen Zermatt
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