France’s richest man takes control of Paris Match magazine

Paris Match, a glossy French weekly known for its celebrity scoops on Tuesday became part of the media empire of France’s richest man Bernard Arnault, after a stint under right-wing tycoon Vincent Bollore.

The LVMH luxury conglomerate headed by Arnault, one of the world’s richest people, acquired the magazine in a deal, first announced in February, worth 120 million euros ($133 million).

An LVMH statement confirmed the Paris Match purchase.

Bollore, whose conservative views are reflected by the CNews TV channel that he owns, has been accused of interference in the editorial line of the magazine, which still shifts 440,000 print copies every week.

A staple of French news-stands, Paris Match is widely read for insights into the life of the country’s cultural and political elite and shows an insatiable interest in the British royal family and other European monarchies.

It is also known for the quality of its photojournalism, including from war zones.

LVMH, which already owns Le Parisien daily and Les Echos business newspaper, said in a joint statement with the previous owners that the deal “marks the beginning of a new chapter” in the history of Paris Match which was founded in 1949.

Arnault, whose family fortune is estimated at $190 billion according to Forbes magazine, was quoted as saying that the acquisition would allow Paris Match to “accelerate its development, particularly in the digital sphere”.

“Faithful to its history yet looking to the future, I have full confidence that the Paris Match teams will reinvigorate the essence of its familiar slogan ‘the weight of words, the shock of photos'” he added.

A Paris Match journalist, who asked not to be named, told AFP there was a “desire to restore the Paris Match of its heyday” and “therefore to rehire” after the many staff departures of recent years.

Despite expectations of a shift from the line under Bollore, “we don’t yet have a very clearly stated editorial strategy,” the journalist added. The editorial team was invited to a meeting on Tuesday.

But the change was “something of a relief for the newsroom”, the journalist said, pointing to the number of covers in recent months devoted to subjects on the Catholic faith to which Bollore belongs.

A summer 2022 cover devoted to the ultra-conservative cardinal Robert Sarah caused particular disquiet. The political and economic editor-in-chief Bruno Jeudy was then replaced by former CNews anchor Laurence Ferrari.

Bollore, whose Vivendi group has swallowed the media interests of his fellow tycoon Arnaud Lagardere as well as CNews, now controls Sunday paper JDD and weekly JDNews which have a considerable right-wing spin.

CNews is regularly accused by critics of being a mouthpiece for France’s far right.

But Arnault, who regularly meets centrist President Emmanuel Macron, has also been criticised for his attitude towards freedom of the press.

According to the specialist publication La Lettre, the billionaire has banned LVMH executives from speaking to to seven blacklisted media outlets.