JM Messier, the Universal Studios ex CEO, is not a Polytechnique graduate anymore
If you remember the Internet bubble, there is a chance you heard the story of Vivendi Universal and its CEO. VU appeared in 2000 when the French company Vivendi, led by Jean-Marie Messier, acquired Universal Studios. After a 2-year flamboyant expansion, in which the ambitious Messier spent on acquisitions over 60 billion $ (that is as much as Romania’s GDP) of the VU’s stock holders, the VU titles dropped at $11, their maximum having been at over $150!
Why am I telling this story now? For I’ve just seen a documentary about Messier on the French-German TV channel Arte; in this production, our legendary CEO was presented not as a Polytechnique alumnus, but simply as an ENA graduate. The French public opinion knows he was first a Polytechnicien and this fact is the most well-known. But now isn’t it more simple to forget that and to present him as an ENA graduate, as the majority of the French politicians?
That does protect the image of still the most prestigious French grande école. On the other hand, the fact that even a European television censured this info just shows me how powerful this school is.