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{{Short description|Jewish businessman and billionaire (born 1963)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Patrick Drahi
| name = Patrick Drahi
| image = Patrick Drahi, plus grand mécène privée de L'Ecole polytechnique Crédit photographique - © École polytechnique - J.Barande (19143423121) (cropped).jpg
| image = File:Patrick Drahi 2016.jpg
| caption =
| caption = Drahi in 2015
| birth_name =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1963}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|8|20|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Casablanca]], Morocco
| birth_place = [[Casablanca]], Morocco
| death_date =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_place =
| nationality = Israeli<ref name="Nationality">{{cite magazine |author=Eric Treguier |url=https://www.challenges.fr/high-tech/20140314.CHA1585/sfr-sera-t-il-vendu-a-un-actionnaire-qui-a-renonce-a-etre-francais.html |title=Le futur actionnaire de SFR a-t-il renoncé à être français? |magazine=Challenges |date=14 March 2014|lang=fr|quote=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.'}}.</ref><br />French <ref group=nt>In 2014, ''[[Challenges (magazine)|Challenges]]'' magazine reported that a legal representative of Drahi had stated that he renounced his French nationality to became an Israeli national. It is unclear when he gave up his French citizenship or when he became an Israeli national. But in 2019 and later he has been described in the press as holding French, Israeli, and Portuguese citizenship.</ref>
| residence = [[Geneva]], Switzerland
⚫
| education = [[École Polytechnique]], [[Télécom Paris]]
| nationality = French, Israeli, Portuguese
⚫
| occupation = Businessman
⚫
| education = [[École Polytechnique]]
| title = Chairman of [[Altice (company)|Altice]] and [[Altice USA]]
⚫
| occupation = Businessman
| known_for = Founder and head of [[Altice (company)|Altice]]
| known_for =
| salary =
| spouse = Lina Nazirah Zenie
⚫
| children = 4
| net_worth = US$7.9 billion (February 2019)<ref name="Forbes profile">{{cite web |title=Forbes profile: Patrick Drahi |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-drahi/ |website=Forbes |accessdate=15 February 2019}}</ref>
| spouse = Lina Drahi
⚫
| children = 4
}}
}}


'''Patrick Drahi''' ({{lang-ar|باتريك دراحي}} ; {{lang-he|פטריק דרהי}}; born 1963) is a French-Israeli businessman with French, Portuguese, and Israeli citizenship,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.challenges.fr/high-tech/20140314.CHA1585/sfr-sera-t-il-vendu-a-un-actionnaire-qui-a-renonce-a-etre-francais.html |title=Le futur actionnaire de SFR a-t-il renoncé à être français? |date=14 March 2014}}.</ref> 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 Netherlands-based telecom group [[Altice (company)|Altice]] listed on the [[Euronext Amsterdam]] stock exchange.
'''Patrick Drahi''' ({{IPA|fr|patʁik dʁai}}; {{langx|ar|باتريك دراحي}}; {{langx|he|פטריק דרהי}}; born 20 August 1963)<ref name=France24>{{cite news |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20190617-drahi-self-made-french-cable-tycoon-with-rich-taste-art |title=Drahi, self-made French cable tycoon with rich taste in art |agency=AFP |website=France 24 |date=17 June 2019 }}</ref> is a French-Israeli billionaire [[business magnate|magnate]] and investor with interests in media and telecoms.<ref name="Nationality"/><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-08-07 |title=Patrick Drahi, the telco tycoon facing debt woes, arrest of aide |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/patrick-drahi-telco-tycoon-facing-debt-woes-arrest-aide-2023-08-07/ |access-date=2024-09-25 |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> He is the founder and controlling shareholder of the European-based telecom group [[Altice (company)|Altice]]. A former French citizen,<ref name="Nationality"/> he lives in Switzerland.


==Early life and education==
==Biography==
Patrick Drahi was born in [[Casablanca]], to a [[Jewish]] family. When he was 15 years old, the family moved to [[Montpellier]], France. His parents are both math teachers. Drahi has an engineering degree from the [[École Polytechnique]] university in Paris (a post-graduate degree in optics and electronics).<ref name=Forbes>{{cite web|title=Patrick Drahi|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-drahi/|website=Forbes|accessdate=19 January 2015}}</ref><ref name=Bloomberg>{{cite web|title=Patrick Drahi|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=1047760&privcapId=4291896|website=Bloomberg Business|accessdate=25 September 2015}}</ref> He is married and lives in [[Geneva]], Switzerland, with his [[Syrians|Syrian]]-[[Greek Orthodox]] wife;<ref>[http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7dc9f816-0072-11e5-b91e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3kFCg76oQ 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"''</ref><ref>[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5cf6cd60-bc18-11e4-b6ec-00144feab7de.html#axzz3aLO5cE6b Altice's savvy 'playbook' fuels rapid growth at telecoms group] 24 February 2015, Financial Times, Adam Thomson in Paris and Arash Massoudi in London</ref> they have four children.<ref name=Forbes/>
Drahi was born into a [[Moroccan Jews|Jewish]] family in [[Casablanca]], Morocco. His parents both taught mathematics. When he was 15, the family moved to [[Montpellier]], France.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news |author=Nicola Clark |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/business/media/patrick-drahi-positions-himself-to-be-a-player-in-us-cable.html |title=Patrick Drahi Positions Himself to Be a Player in U.S. Cable |newspaper=The New York Times |date=7 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911083114/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/business/media/patrick-drahi-positions-himself-to-be-a-player-in-us-cable.html |archive-date=11 September 2015 }}</ref><ref name=Quem>{{cite news |author=Clara Teixeira |url=https://visao.sapo.pt/atualidade/economia/2017-09-17-quem-e-patrick-drahi-o-homem-que-quer-juntar-a-tvi-a-pt/ |website=Visāo |title=Quem é Patrick Drahi, o homem que quer juntar a TVI à PT |date=17 September 2017 |language=pt }}</ref> Drahi earned an engineering degree from [[École Polytechnique]] in Paris, and a post-graduate degree in optics and electronics from [[Télécom Paris]].<ref name=NYT/><ref name=Forbes>{{cite web|title=Patrick Drahi|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-drahi/|website=Forbes|accessdate=19 January 2015}}</ref><ref name=Bloomberg>{{cite web|title=Patrick Drahi|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=1047760&privcapId=4291896|website=Bloomberg Business|accessdate=25 September 2015}}</ref>


==Business career==
==Career==
After completing his postgraduate degree in 1986, Drahi began work as a fibre optics researcher at [[Philips]]. He resigned in 1990 to go into business for himself, initially consulting in the United States on investment in European cable providers. In 1994, in France, he founded Sud Câble Services;<ref name=NYT/> he and an American partner convinced mayors in southern France to allow them to lay cable for television in their towns. In 1998 he sold the company to [[John C. Malone|John C. Malone's]] [[UPC Broadband|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&nbsp;million just before the [[dot-com bubble]] burst.<ref name=NYT/><ref name=reuters />
In 2013, Drahi founded the international news channel [[i24news]]. This channel is based in Israel, and broadcasts in French, Arabic, and English.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/billionaire-drahi-set-to-expand-international-media-holdings-1422828690/|title=Billionaire Drahi Set to Expand International Media Holdings|publisher=Wall Street Journal|date=22 June 2015}}</ref>


In 2001, he founded the Amsterdam-based holding company Altice ATCE.AS, which soon began to buy up European cable companies.<ref name= reuters /> In France, he founded the French cable operator [[Numericable]] and in 2013 bought [[SFR]], the second largest mobile phone and internet provider in the country, from media conglomerate [[Vivendi]].<ref name=reuters>{{cite news |author1=Nicholas Vinocur |author2=Leila Abboud |date=14 March 2014 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vivendi-sfr-numericable-drahi/outsider-patrick-drahi-defies-french-establishment-to-win-sfr-idUSBREA2D1LJ20140314 |title=Outsider Patrick Drahi defies French establishment to win SFR |website=Reuters }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=Matthew Campbell |author2=Maria Mawad |author3=Francois de Beaupuy |date=7 April 2014 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-04-05/vivendi-agrees-to-sell-sfr-to-altice-in-23-billion-deal |title=Vivendi Agrees to Sell SFR to Altice in $23 Billion Deal |website=Bloomberg News }}</ref> In the UK, he bought 18% of the telecom [[BT Group|BT]] in 2021<ref name=current/> and in 2023 increased his stake to 24.5%.<ref>{{cite news |author=Mark Sweney |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/23/patrick-drahi-bt-stake-altice-uk-telecoms |title=French billionaire Patrick Drahi ups BT stake to more than 24% |newspaper=The Guardian |date=23 May 2023 }}</ref><ref name=Guardian>{{cite news |author=Mark Sweney |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/10/patrick-drahi-billionaire-bt-investor-telecoms |title=Who is Patrick Drahi, the billionaire who has become BT's biggest investor? |newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 June 2021 }}</ref>
Drahi later became the owner of French cable operator Numericable.{{fact|date=February 2019}} In 2013, Drahi bought [[SFR]], the second largest mobile phone and internet provider in France, from media conglomerate [[Vivendi]].{{fact|date=February 2019}}


Drahi owns the Israeli cable television company [[HOT (Israel)|HOT]].<ref name="globes.co.il">{{cite web|url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-patrick-drahis-altice-to-buy-cablevision-for-177b-1001068938|title=Patrick Drahi's Altice to buy Cablevision for $17.7b|website=Globes|date=17 September 2015|accessdate=31 July 2017}}</ref> In 2013 he founded the Israel-based international news channel [[i24news]], which broadcasts in French, Arabic, and English.<ref>{{cite news |author=Amitai Ziv |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/2016-04-26/ty-article/the-ticker/0000017f-e62d-df2c-a1ff-fe7d346e0000 |title=The Ticker: i24News Valued at $113 Million in Altice Media Holdings Shake-up |newspaper=Haaretz |date=26 April 2016 }}</ref>
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&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcelmichelson/2015/05/20/patrick-drahis-altice-enters-u-s-a-with-suddenlink-deal-clash-of-telcocable-titans-looms/|title=Patrick Drahi's Altice Enters U.S.A. With Suddenlink Deal; Clash of Telco/Cable Titans Looms|publisher=Forbes|date=22 June 2015}}</ref>


Altice entered the American telecommunications market in 2015 by purchasing 70% of [[Suddenlink Communications]], the seventh-largest cable company in the US.<ref name=NYT/><ref name=current/><ref>{{cite news |author1=Marie Mawad |author2=Elco van Groningen |author3=Gerry Smith |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-19/altice-said-to-seek-purchase-of-suddenlink-in-u-s-expansion |title=Altice to Acquire Suddenlink Stake in $9.1 Billion U.S. Deal |website=Bloomberg |date=19 May 2015}}</ref> Later 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.<ref name="globes.co.il" /><ref>{{cite news |author=Bill Chapell |date=September 17, 2015 |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/17/441145026/cablevision-5th-largest-u-s-cable-firm-to-be-sold-in-17-7-billion-deal |title=Cablevision, 5th-Largest U.S. Cable Firm, To Be Sold In $17.7 Billion Deal |website=NPR }}</ref> In 2018, the Dolans sued Altice USA over alleged violations of the terms of the sale.<ref>{{cite news |author=Dade Hayes |date=4 September 2018 |url=https://deadline.com/2018/09/dolan-family-cablevision-sues-altice-usa-news-12-colleen-mcvey-1202457058/ |title=Cablevision's Dolan Family Sues Altice Over Alleged Breach Of 2016 Merger, Claiming Ageism In News 12 Layoffs |work=Deadline }}</ref>
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.{{fact|date=February 2019}}


In September 2020, to take the company private, Drahi offered €2.5 billion to minority shareholders of Altice.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/5db956c4-73fa-4b2b-bea9-e244bf4ce441|title=Drahi offers to take Altice Europe private in €2.5bn buyout|work=Financial Times|author1=Nic Fildes|author2=Nikou Asgari|date=11 September 2020|accessdate=12 September 2020}}</ref> An increased bid was accepted in January 2021.<ref name="Increased">{{cite news |title=Billionaire Drahi gets green light to take Altice Europe private - union |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-altice-europe-buyout-agm-idUKKBN29C1MC |access-date=26 May 2022 |work=Reuters |date=7 January 2021 }}</ref>
Drahi owns the Israeli cable television company [[HOT (Israel)|HOT]].<ref name="globes.co.il">{{cite web|url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-patrick-drahis-altice-to-buy-cablevision-for-177b-1001068938|title=Globes English - Patrick Drahi's Altice to buy Cablevision for $17.7b|website=globes.co.il|accessdate=31 July 2017}}</ref>


⚫
In June 2019, [[Sotheby's]] announced it was being acquired by Drahi at a 61% market premium.<ref name=France24/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/sotheby-s-to-be-acquired-for-57-a-share-11560777058|title=Sotheby's to Be Sold, Jolting the Art World|date=2019-06-17|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=17 June 2019 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> To cut debts and fund growth, in 2024 Drahi sold a $1bn stake to ADQ.
⚫
As of November 2015 ''[[Forbes]]'' estimated Drahi's net worth at $10.3&nbsp;billion. Forbes ranked him as the 60th-richest person in the world, the third-richest person in France.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-drahi/|title=#57 Patrick Drahi|publisher=Forbes|date=22 June 2015}}</ref> He was ranked as the richest person in Israel, until 2016, when he came in second.<ref name="globes.co.il"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.themarker.com/magazine/1.2971656|title=500 העשירים: האיש שחזר לפיסגה עם 8.3 מיליארד דולר|last=אבריאל|first=איתן|newspaper=TheMarker|accessdate=10 November 2016}}</ref>


===Forbes ranking ===
⚫
In June 2019, [[Sotheby's]] announced it was being acquired by Drahi at a 61% market premium.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/sotheby-s-to-be-acquired-for-57-a-share-11560777058|title=Sotheby’s to Be Sold, Jolting the Art World|date=2019-06-17|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=2019-06-17|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>
⚫
In June 2015, ''[[Forbes]]'' estimated Drahi's net worth at [[US dollar|$]]26.5&nbsp;billion and ranked him as the 57th richest person in the world and the third richest in France.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-drahi/|title=#57 Patrick Drahi |work=Forbes |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629060149/https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-drahi/ |archive-date=29 June 2015}}</ref> He was ranked as the richest person in Israel until 2016, when he came in second.<ref name="globes.co.il"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.themarker.com/magazine/1.2971656|title=500 העשירים: האיש שחזר לפיסגה עם 8.3 מיליארד דולר|last=אבריאל|first=איתן|newspaper=TheMarker|accessdate=10 November 2016}}</ref> {{As of|2023|12}}, ''Forbes'' lists his net worth at $4.9&nbsp;billion, ranking him 584th in the world.<ref name=current>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-drahi/?sh=55976d3a6f9e|title=Profile: Patrick Drahi |website=Forbes |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref>

On 15 March 2024, Drahi announced the sale of [[Altice Média]] to [[Rodolphe Saadé]] for just over €1.5 billion, in order to pay off some of the parent company's debt, estimated at €24 billion at the end of September 2023.<ref>{{cite news |title=Face au mur de la dette, Patrick Drahi contraint de vendre BFM-TV à Rodolphe Saadé |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2024/03/15/face-au-mur-de-la-dette-patrick-drahi-contraint-de-vendre-bfm-tv-a-rodolphe-saade_6222248_3234.html |work=Le Monde |language=fr|date=15 March 2024 }}</ref>


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
Drahi married Lina Nazirah (née Zenie), a [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch|Greek Orthodox]] Syrian naturalized in Switzerland, in 1990.<ref name=NYT/><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-11-01 |title=Le patron de BFM TV Patrick Drahi est rattrapé par le fisc genevois |url=https://www.rts.ch/info/regions/geneve/13510142-le-patron-de-bfm-tv-patrick-drahi-est-rattrape-par-le-fisc-genevois.html |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=rts.ch |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Portrait: Patrick Drahi |url=https://www.ojim.fr/portraits/patrick-drahi-un-empire-au-coeur-du-systeme/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Ojim.fr |language=fr}}</ref><!-- <ref>{{Cite web |author=Gilles Fontaine |date=2014-03-17 |title=Comment Patrick Drahi, le patron de Numericable, a bâti sa fortune |url=https://www.challenges.fr/high-tech/comment-patrick-drahi-le-patron-de-numericable-a-bati-sa-fortune_161798 |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Challenges |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2017-09-23 |title=Comment Patrick Drahi dirige son empire chez Altice |url=https://www.challenges.fr/high-tech/telecoms/comment-patrick-drahi-dirige-son-empire-chez-altice_501317 |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Challenges |language=fr}}</ref> --> They moved to Switzerland in 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 |website=Huffington Post.fr|date=14 March 2014 |language=fr }}</ref> and live in [[Geneva]].<ref name=FT>{{Cite news |author=Adam Thomson |title=French telecoms outsider is more easyJet than jet set |url=https://www.ft.com/content/7dc9f816-0072-11e5-b91e-00144feabdc0 |newspaper=Financial Times |date=22 May 2015 }}</ref> They have four children: Graziella, who is Vice President–Growth at Altice USA,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/ATUS/company-people/executive-profile/204144541 |title=Altice USA Inc.: Graziella Drahi |website=Wall Street Journal Market Data |access-date=29 December 2023 }}</ref> Angélina, who chairs the family's charity foundation,<ref>{{Cite news |author=Michal Galanti |title=Cornerstone laid in Jerusalem. Find out where |url=https://www.jpost.com/must/must-know/venue-telling-the-full-story-of-jerusalem-to-open-in-2022-683821 |date=2 November 2021 |access-date=19 December 2023 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post }}</ref> and twin sons<ref name=FT/> David, who joined the board of directors of Altice USA in 2019,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Board of Directors |url=https://investors.alticeusa.com/corporate-governance/board-of-directors |access-date=29 December 2023 |website=Altice USA }}</ref> and Nathan, who formerly worked in London in [[private equity]] and was appointed Managing Director of Sotheby's Asia in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/about/team/nathan-drahi |title=Nathan Drahi: Managing Director, Asia |website=Sotheby's |access-date=29 December 2023 }}</ref>
Patrick is currently married to Lina, together they have 4 children; 2 Twin Boys and 2 Girls. Angelina; who is a Data Scientist at A4 Media, Graziella; Deputy Head at AlticeMobile, Nathan; Private Equity Associate at BC Partners and David; Director at Altice USA.

In 2014, Drahi and his wife Lina created their family foundation, the Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation, 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.<ref name="plfa">[https://plfa.info/ PLFA Foundation website]</ref><ref>[https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.plfa_the_patrick_and_lina_drahi_foundation.8a97729102d9461fc06e0eb396e4b601.html "PLFA The Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation"] [[Dun & Bradstreet|Dun & Bradstreet Directory]]</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.europaweg.ch/sponsoren/plfa-the-patrick-and-lina-drahi-foundation/ |title=PLFA – The Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation |publisher=Europaweg Grachen Zermatt }}</ref>

In 2014, Drahi's lawyer informed the magazine ''[[Challenges (magazine)|Challenges]]'', who intended to include him in a list of France's top 500 fortunes, that he had given up his French citizenship and taken Israeli citizenship.<ref name="Nationality"/><ref>{{Cite web |author=Eric Treguier |date=14 March 2014 |title=Quand le futur actionnaire de SFR voulait renoncer à être Français |url=https://www.challenges.fr/high-tech/sfr-sera-t-il-vendu-a-un-actionnaire-qui-a-renonce-a-etre-francais_10113 |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Challenges |language=fr}}</ref> But he reportedly acquired Portuguese citizenship in 2015,<ref>{{cite news |author=Zvika Klein |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-712396 |title=Portuguese police search home of lawyers helping Jews get citizenship |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=18 July 2022 }}</ref> and has since been described as a citizen of all three countries.<ref name=France24/><ref name=Guardian/>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=nt}}
{{Notelist}}


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:École Polytechnique alumni]]
[[Category:École Polytechnique alumni]]
[[Category:French billionaires]]
[[Category:Télécom Paris alumni]]
[[Category:Israeli billionaires]]
[[Category:Israeli billionaires]]
[[Category:French mass media owners]]
[[Category:French mass media owners]]
[[Category:French Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century Moroccan Jews]]
[[Category:French people of Moroccan-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Casablanca]]
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[[Category:Moroccan Jews]]
[[Category:People from Casablanca]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Geneva]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Geneva]]
[[Category:Cable television company founders]]
[[Category:Cable television company founders]]
[[Category:French television company founders]]
[[Category:French television company founders]]
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[[Category:Altice (company)]]

Latest revision as of 16:07, 31 October 2024

Patrick Drahi
Drahi in 2015
Born (1963-08-20) 20 August 1963 (age 61)
Casablanca, Morocco
NationalityIsraeli[1]
French [nt 1]
EducationÉcole Polytechnique, Télécom Paris
OccupationBusinessman
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)[2] is a French-Israeli billionaire magnate and investor with interests in media and telecoms.[1][3] He is the founder and controlling shareholder of the European-based telecom group Altice. A former French citizen,[1] he lives in Switzerland.

Early life and education

[edit]

Drahi was born into a Jewish family in Casablanca, Morocco. His parents both taught mathematics. When he was 15, the family moved to Montpellier, France.[4][5] Drahi earned an engineering degree from École Polytechnique in Paris, and a post-graduate degree in optics and electronics from Télécom Paris.[4][6][7]

Career

[edit]

After completing his postgraduate degree in 1986, Drahi began work as a fibre optics researcher at Philips. He resigned in 1990 to go into business for himself, initially consulting in the United States on investment in European cable providers. In 1994, in France, he founded Sud Câble Services;[4] he and an American partner convinced mayors in southern France to allow them to lay cable for television in their towns. In 1998 he sold the company 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 just before the dot-com bubble burst.[4][8]

In 2001, he founded the Amsterdam-based holding company Altice ATCE.AS, which soon began to buy up European cable companies.[8] In France, he founded the French cable operator Numericable and in 2013 bought SFR, the second largest mobile phone and internet provider in the country, from media conglomerate Vivendi.[8][9] In the UK, he bought 18% of the telecom BT in 2021[10] and in 2023 increased his stake to 24.5%.[11][12]

Drahi owns the Israeli cable television company HOT.[13] In 2013 he founded the Israel-based international news channel i24news, which broadcasts in French, Arabic, and English.[14]

Altice entered the American telecommunications market in 2015 by purchasing 70% of Suddenlink Communications, the seventh-largest cable company in the US.[4][10][15] Later 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.[13][16] In 2018, the Dolans sued Altice USA over alleged violations of the terms of the sale.[17]

In September 2020, to take the company private, Drahi offered €2.5 billion to minority shareholders of Altice.[18] An increased bid was accepted in January 2021.[19]

In June 2019, Sotheby's announced it was being acquired by Drahi at a 61% market premium.[2][20] To cut debts and fund growth, in 2024 Drahi sold a $1bn stake to ADQ.

Forbes ranking

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In June 2015, Forbes estimated Drahi's net worth at $26.5 billion and ranked him as the 57th richest person in the world and the third richest in France.[21] He was ranked as the richest person in Israel until 2016, when he came in second.[13][22] As of December 2023, Forbes lists his net worth at $4.9 billion, ranking him 584th in the world.[10]

On 15 March 2024, Drahi announced the sale of Altice Média to Rodolphe Saadé for just over €1.5 billion, in order to pay off some of the parent company's debt, estimated at €24 billion at the end of September 2023.[23]

Personal life

[edit]

Drahi married Lina Nazirah (née Zenie), a Greek Orthodox Syrian naturalized in Switzerland, in 1990.[4][24][25] They moved to Switzerland in 1999[26] and live in Geneva.[27] They have four children: Graziella, who is Vice President–Growth at Altice USA,[28] Angélina, who chairs the family's charity foundation,[29] and twin sons[27] David, who joined the board of directors of Altice USA in 2019,[30] and Nathan, who formerly worked in London in private equity and was appointed Managing Director of Sotheby's Asia in 2021.[31]

In 2014, Drahi and his wife Lina created their family foundation, the Patrick and Lina Drahi Foundation, 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]

In 2014, Drahi's lawyer informed the magazine Challenges, who intended to include him in a list of France's top 500 fortunes, that he had given up his French citizenship and taken Israeli citizenship.[1][35] But he reportedly acquired Portuguese citizenship in 2015,[36] and has since been described as a citizen of all three countries.[2][12]

Notes

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  1. ^ In 2014, Challenges magazine reported that a legal representative of Drahi had stated that he renounced his French nationality to became an Israeli national. It is unclear when he gave up his French citizenship or when he became an Israeli national. But in 2019 and later he has been described in the press as holding French, Israeli, and Portuguese citizenship.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Eric Treguier (14 March 2014). "Le futur actionnaire de SFR a-t-il renoncé à être français?". Challenges (in French). 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. ^ a b c "Drahi, self-made French cable tycoon with rich taste in art". France 24. AFP. 17 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Patrick Drahi, the telco tycoon facing debt woes, arrest of aide". Reuters. 7 August 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Nicola Clark (7 September 2015). "Patrick Drahi Positions Himself to Be a Player in U.S. Cable". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015.
  5. ^ Clara Teixeira (17 September 2017). "Quem é Patrick Drahi, o homem que quer juntar a TVI à PT". Visāo (in Portuguese).
  6. ^ "Patrick Drahi". Forbes. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Patrick Drahi". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  8. ^ a b c Nicholas Vinocur; Leila Abboud (14 March 2014). "Outsider Patrick Drahi defies French establishment to win SFR". Reuters.
  9. ^ Matthew Campbell; Maria Mawad; Francois de Beaupuy (7 April 2014). "Vivendi Agrees to Sell SFR to Altice in $23 Billion Deal". Bloomberg News.
  10. ^ a b c "Profile: Patrick Drahi". Forbes. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  11. ^ Mark Sweney (23 May 2023). "French billionaire Patrick Drahi ups BT stake to more than 24%". The Guardian.
  12. ^ a b Mark Sweney (10 June 2021). "Who is Patrick Drahi, the billionaire who has become BT's biggest investor?". The Guardian.
  13. ^ a b c "Patrick Drahi's Altice to buy Cablevision for $17.7b". Globes. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  14. ^ Amitai Ziv (26 April 2016). "The Ticker: i24News Valued at $113 Million in Altice Media Holdings Shake-up". Haaretz.
  15. ^ Marie Mawad; Elco van Groningen; Gerry Smith (19 May 2015). "Altice to Acquire Suddenlink Stake in $9.1 Billion U.S. Deal". Bloomberg.
  16. ^ Bill Chapell (17 September 2015). "Cablevision, 5th-Largest U.S. Cable Firm, To Be Sold In $17.7 Billion Deal". NPR.
  17. ^ Dade Hayes (4 September 2018). "Cablevision's Dolan Family Sues Altice Over Alleged Breach Of 2016 Merger, Claiming Ageism In News 12 Layoffs". Deadline.
  18. ^ Nic Fildes; Nikou Asgari (11 September 2020). "Drahi offers to take Altice Europe private in €2.5bn buyout". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  19. ^ "Billionaire Drahi gets green light to take Altice Europe private - union". Reuters. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  20. ^ "Sotheby's to Be Sold, Jolting the Art World". Wall Street Journal. 17 June 2019. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  21. ^ "#57 Patrick Drahi". Forbes. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015.
  22. ^ אבריאל, איתן. "500 העשירים: האיש שחזר לפיסגה עם 8.3 מיליארד דולר". TheMarker. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  23. ^ "Face au mur de la dette, Patrick Drahi contraint de vendre BFM-TV à Rodolphe Saadé". Le Monde (in French). 15 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Le patron de BFM TV Patrick Drahi est rattrapé par le fisc genevois". rts.ch (in French). 1 November 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  25. ^ "Portrait: Patrick Drahi". Ojim.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  26. ^ Grégory Raymond (14 March 2014). "Qui est Patrick Drahi, le sulfureux patron de Numericable". Huffington Post.fr (in French).
  27. ^ a b Adam Thomson (22 May 2015). "French telecoms outsider is more easyJet than jet set". Financial Times.
  28. ^ "Altice USA Inc.: Graziella Drahi". Wall Street Journal Market Data. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  29. ^ Michal Galanti (2 November 2021). "Cornerstone laid in Jerusalem. Find out where". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  30. ^ "Board of Directors". Altice USA. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  31. ^ "Nathan Drahi: Managing Director, Asia". Sotheby's. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  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.
  35. ^ Eric Treguier (14 March 2014). "Quand le futur actionnaire de SFR voulait renoncer à être Français". Challenges (in French). Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  36. ^ Zvika Klein (18 July 2022). "Portuguese police search home of lawyers helping Jews get citizenship". The Jerusalem Post.
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