Xavier Niel finances "L'Informé", a new online newspaper on the economy

Louise Bernard with AFP 10:48 a.m., September 21, 2022

A former digital manager of Capital magazine will launch a new online economic media focused on investigation and the scoop,

in which the billionaire and press boss Xavier Niel has invested

he announced to the AFP on Tuesday.

The launch is expected by the end of October, said Gilles Tanguy, former digital editorial director of the Prisma Media group, where he was responsible for the 

,

 or 

sites .

Economic journalists specialized in the scoop

This media, which its founder wants to be "free and factual", will only include "exclusive information on companies and their managers, in all economic fields".

According to Gilles Tanguy, who will be the editorial director, "the team will be made up of economic journalists specializing in the scoop, who will be given time to carry out long-term investigations".

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A dozen journalists have already been recruited, with a target of 15 to 20. Among them, defectors from 

 (Prisma Media group, controlled by billionaire Vincent Bolloré) or Marc Rees, editor-in-chief of the site specializing in digital Next INpact. 

operate without advertising and on subscription, at 9.99 euros per month.

The new medium hopes to reach 50,000 subscribers in five years, a threshold "largely sufficient for its balance".

Xavier Niel will not be able to intervene in the editorial line

Its sole investor is the billionaire Xavier Niel, already present in the media with the

group (which notably includes the daily newspaper of the same name and 

), the

group , 

or 

.

Without revealing the amount of this investment, Gilles Tanguy claims to have obtained from the billionaire "all possible guarantees of independence, the same as those in force in the world".

According to him, Xavier Niel "undertook to contribute the shares he holds in

to the Fund for the independence of the press subject to the agreement of the latter", on the same mechanism as "the participation which he owns in the

group ".

Created in 2021 by the businessman, this endowment fund makes the capital paid to the media statutory non-transferable.

In addition, a Society of Journalists (SDJ) will hold 34% of the shares of

.

"She will be able to oppose a change of shareholder and will have a right of veto on the appointment of the editorial director", explained Gilles Tanguy.

"Xavier Niel will not be able to intervene in any way in the editorial line", he insisted.