2023-11-10 06:00:00
CEvery week, boxes pile up in Arnaud Lagardère’s vast office, on the first floor of the Château de Pressbourg, facing the Arc de Triomphe. Inside, books to be published by Hachette, the third largest publisher in the world and the largest in France. They are mainly detective novels in English which he loves. “I’m an absolute fan of John Grisham and also of James Patterson, who taught me English when I was little,” he once confided to the Point. His wife, Jade Lagardère, wrote three comic strips published by Glénat.
Already CEO of the Lagardère group, owner of Hachette, Arnaud Lagardère will now be even more immersed in books: he has just been appointed CEO of Hachette Livre, with the blessing of the leaders of Vivendi, buyer of Lagardère. “At the time of the merger of the Lagardère group with Vivendi, I wanted to show my historical and visceral attachment to this book profession,” says Arnaud Lagardère, who wishes to point out that he retains his mandate as CEO within the company. Lagardère (scheduled until 2026).
The Bolloré family, which controls Vivendi, has therefore kept its promise: the son of Jean-Luc Lagardère, who died in 2003, officially remains at the helm of the Lagardère group, of which he still holds more than 10% of the capital.
Top start to the transfer window?
For certain employees of Hachette Livre, in particular of the group’s prestigious publishing houses (Calmann-Lévy, Grasset, Fayard, Stock, etc.) formerly managed by book soldiers like Jean-Louis Lisimachio or Arnaud Nourry, this appointment has a strange flavor . “It’s lunar,” said one of them. Another tries to console himself – “It’s better than a head-chopping manager from Vivendi” – before correcting himself: “Unless we ask Arnaud Lagardère to clean up while displaying shareholder continuity facade for the European Commission. »
“Dismayed” executives still remember the “Rabbit of Rome”. In 2014, Arnaud Lagardère did not go to a seminar in Rome that he himself had convened. According to evil tongues, he preferred to celebrate the 24the birthday of his wife, Jade. The person concerned denies. “This absence sums it up. Arnaud Lagardère is shifty and not very hardworking,” considers a former Hachette manager.
Arnaud Lagardère is now expected to appoint an operational director to manage day-to-day affairs. Hachette, which failed to get its hands on Stephen King’s American publisher, Simon & Schuster, remains a big liner. Following the departure last summer of Fabrice Bakhouche, it is moving forward mainly thanks to the bosses of its different divisions, whether in literature, or in the educational field and dictionaries (Hachette, Hatier, Larousse, etc.).
Hachette is nevertheless showing signs of slowing down. Its operating profit fell by 16% in the first half of 2023, to 65 million euros, for an almost stable turnover, at 1.2 billion euros. An industry expert believes that the arrival of Arnaud Lagardère as CEO of Hachette will create a stir. “People are starting to discreetly put their noses outside,” he assures. While Czech entrepreneur Daniel Kretinsky has just taken control of Editis, a former subsidiary of Vivendi, the transfer window for publishers and authors seems to have started.
1699762988
#strange #appointment #Arnaud #Lagardère #Hachette
