July
10Master of the World
So suddenly Vivendi is poking its way back into the news. In acquiring Activision, Vivendi seems intent on creating a global gaming company that will invade China as well as the U.S. and Europe.Meanwhile Vivendi Entertainment, which has basically been a home vid company, is quietly developing movies for theatrical release and appointing execs to overseas theatrical marketing and development.
The fact that Vivendi is actually part of the Universal Music Group is a reminder of the monumentally tortuous links between Vivendi and Universal that were left behind from the bizarre 6-year reign of Jean-Marie Messier. It was only a little over a decade ago that Messier began his ill-starred takeover of Universal and set about to implement his blueprint for the re-invention of the global entertainment business.
I spent some time with Messier during that period and found him one of the most disorienting CEOs I'd ever encountered. Quiet-spoken, fair-haired and youthful-looking, Messier would emphasize that he was a faithful French Catholic family man, and a corporate officer who welcomed conflicting opinions.
In fact, Messier was rigid, oddly messianic and uniquely unpleasant. He was finally pitched out of Universal precisely six years ago, leaving his company $35 billion in debt.
At the height of Wall Street's "masters of the universe" phase, Messier seemed to enjoy his moniker as "master of the world." Ask him about the weather, and he'd launch into a half hour sermon on his plans to link Hollywood to Europe to Asia in a vast sea of "convergence."
Mind you, this was a little guy who'd managed to climb to the top of an obscure French water utility, but who also had a genius for financial manipulation. He was also nothing if not self-righteous: When he was released on $1.6 million bail for stock manipulation in 2004, he claimed the media moguls had rigged the system against him and even went on to write a book describing how the Bronfman family, among others, had schemed his downfall.
Messier, when last heard from, was living in New York running a boutique called Messier Partners. He doesn't give interviews, but frequently reminds potential clients that, in his time, he'd overseen some $100 billion in acquisitions.
And now and forever, he will be a "master of the world."
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