Jean-Marie Messier

Jean-Marie Messieris a French businessman who transformed a domestic French utility company into the global media and communications conglomerate Vivendi Universal in the late 20th century.

Messier was educated in France at the École Polytechnique (1976–79) and the École Nationale d’Administration (1980–82), and from 1982 to 1988 he held positions in the French Ministry of Economy and Finance. He joined the investment bank Lazard Frères in 1989, the youngest partner in the firm’s history. In 1994 he moved to Compagnie Générale des Eaux, originally a water utility company that had come to include businesses such as waste management and construction. Messier became head of the company in 1996, restructured the business, and in 1998 renamed it Vivendi, to suggest revivification.

By 1999 he had a controlling interest in Canal Plus, Europe’s largest pay television service and by law a source of financing for the French film industry. In 2000 Vivendi bought Seagram, which included Universal Pictures and Polygram Records. Changing the company’s name to Vivendi Universal, Messier placed the nonmedia businesses in a division called Vivendi Environnement. He changed the name of Polygram to Universal Music Group and took over other media businesses, including the American publisher Houghton Mifflin, cable and production company USA Networks, and online music service MP3.com. Other businesses included phone companies, Internet services, computer software producers, and amusement parks. He was made a chevalier of the French Legion of Honour in 2001. The same year, Messier moved to New York City, which became the base of his media operations.

A flamboyant American-style capitalist, Messier referred to himself as moi-même, maître du monde (“myself, master of the world”), or J6M. As with other media conglomerates, however, Vivendi Universal began to struggle, and the company suffered a record loss in 2001. In the first six months of 2002 alone, its stock lost more than 60 percent of its value, while the company found itself threatened with a debt in excess of $30 billion. When in early 2002 Messier sacked the head of Canal Plus for poor financial performance, the action became an issue in the French elections, and by July Messier had lost the backing of the French as well as the North American members of the board. That month he was forced to resign as chairman and CEO of Vivendi Universal.

In 2004 Messier was fined for releasing inaccurate information about Vivendi’s finances in 2000–02. He later went on trial in France, accused of misleading shareholders and misappropriating funds, among other charges. Messier was convicted in 2011, and he received a three-year suspended sentence as well as a fine. He appealed, however, and in 2014 his conviction for providing false information to investors was dropped and his suspended sentence was lowered to 10 months. In addition, his fine was reduced.

In 2000 Messier published an autobiography, J6M.com; he also wrote an account of his rise and downfall in Mon vrai journal (2002; “My True Journal”). In 2009 he published Le Jour; où, le ciel nous est tombé sur la tête (“The Day the Sky Fell on Our Heads”), which addressed the contemporary global economic recession.