There's nothing like buying a TV channel to get you on the front page and out of the shadows. Until now, Rodolphe Saadé, who has just taken over Altice Media from Patrick Drahi, knows that he is entering the media spotlight. After buying the regional press group La Provence, acquiring the business news website La Tribune and launching La Tribune Dimanche, he is now at the helm of one of France's leading media groups, which he has entrusted to his wife, Véronique, to manage. The shipowner is following in the footsteps of Martin Bouygues (owner of France's top private channel TF1), Vincent Bolloré (owner of CNews TV channel, and weekly newspaper JDD), Bernard Arnault (owner of Les Echos and Le Parisien newspapers) and Xavier Niel, an individual shareholder in Le Monde and the weekly magazine L'Obs.

Forced to flee war-torn Lebanon at the age of 11 with his family and land in Marseille in 1981, the 54-year-old has moved through the ranks even faster than other billionaires, without ever forgetting where his financial power comes from. From his office on the 30^th floor of the CMA CGM tower in Marseille, designed by the famous Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, he always has one of his 600 container ships in sight, sailing to or from the 520 ports served by the company.

By the standards of media transactions, the €1.55 billion paid to Drahi represents a considerable sum. But the "business" of CMA CGM, which employs 155,000 people worldwide, is first and foremost shipping, said Saadé. Between 2020 and 2027, he will pay 10 times more for 120 container ships powered by liquefied natural gas and methanol, which emit less CO₂ than traditional ships.

Added to this is a diversification into logistics, with ports, hangars, airlines, trucks, trains and freight forwarders to facilitate the transport of goods for major groups. His two most recent acquisitions are worth over €7 billion: Bolloré Logistics and its 14,000 employees for €4.85 billion, and two terminals at the Port of New York-New Jersey for €2.5 billion, which, along with those in Los Angeles-Long Beach, give it a foothold in the strategic US market.

The eighth wealthiest person in France according to Forbes, which valued him at $9.8 billion (€9 billion) at the end of 2023, thanks to the 73% he holds in the world's third-largest shipowner with his older sister, Tanya, and his brother, Jacques Jr, he has the means to achieve his ambitions. During the Covid-19 pandemic, freight rates paid by manufacturers and retailers to transport their goods soared. Between 2020 and 2023, the group reaped $50 billion in profits. But Rodolphe Saadé had begun his purchases back in 2017, when he succeeded his patriarch, Jacques, who passed away in June 2018.

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