Businessman

I have done a lot of stupid things in my life.

Mark Zuckerberg did his own software for Facebook, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin made their own for Google.

We have 200,000 kids a year who drop out of the French school system and have no hope. They become a drag on society.

Nobody believed in the success of the Internet.

I once said, 'Steve Jobs is the American Xavier Niel,' but that was humour.

France has a specificity - the market players who provide Internet access are the telecom operators, and all of the players are French. They had a habit of, let's say, getting along with each other, and the prices traditionally were very high.

Personally, I have invested in around ten U.S. companies and will continue to do so. That doesn't give me a strong experience in the American market. But I have an understanding of the public.

France has the least social mobility of any developed country. The social elevator no longer works. It's broken.

The question for France and all countries is, 'Do you favour foreign Internet operators that do not pay, or do you favour national operators who pay?'

Stephane Richard is far more attuned to the market than Didier Lombard.

Giving only 50% of your fortune is not enough.

I know one business, and that's how to make software.

You can spend your money on art works and sit down and look at them. Or you can use your money to help people.

I'd rather people talked about the 1,000 most successful French Internet companies instead of the 5 or 10 faces we already know - including mine.

I'm not unusual; it's the others who are strange.

I don't think Steve Jobs had much desire to share his fortune.

Any country that wants to lower its mobile phone rates, all they need to do is bring in an aggressive player.

I'm always investing. I'm constantly in talks with someone about some opportunity.

Countries like France should not be naive. We don't have a French YouTube or Amazon or Netflix.

I don't like clothes. I don't especially like cars. I have a very nice house. I get sick on a boat.