Jean-David Blanc (born 27 May 1968) is a French

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

angel investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups, usually in exchange for convertible de ...

, film producer,

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician, founder of

AlloCiné AlloCiné is an entertainment website founded by Jean-David Blanc in 1988, then joined by Patrick Holzman. It has belonged to the company since 2013 Webedia. which specializes in providing information on French cinema, mostly centering on nove ...

and Molotov. He is France's thirteenth favorite entrepreneur according to the 2022 ranking drawn up by '' Forbes France''. Born into a family of musicians (his father was the

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

Serge Blanc), he took an early interest in

computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...

, a nascent field in France at the time. As a teenager, he created

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

for the

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

and sold Computer programming, programming services. At 15, he co-founded the

bulletin board system A bulletin board system (BBS), also called a computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running list of BBS software, software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user perfor ...

Futura, before launching his first company, Crystal Technologies. By the time he passed his baccalauréat, he was already running a company with around fifteen employees. His career really took off with the creation of

at the age of 22, an innovative

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

information service by

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

later launched on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

, which became a notable success and still is today. After selling AlloCiné, he launched Molotov in 2016, a

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

distribution service for television channels, which also became a rapid success before being acquired by

fuboTV FuboTV, Inc., formerly known as the FaceBank Group, and its subsidiary FuboTV Media, Inc., which operates as FuboTV or Fubo, comprise an American over-the-top sports streaming television service that serves customers in Canada, Spain, and the US ...

in 2021. Jean-David Blanc became an influential

, investing in a number of

startups A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses tha ...

, including

Meetic Meetic is a French online dating service founded in November 2001. It is recognized for its intuitive interface and matching algorithms that suggest potential partners to users based on profile attributes. Meetic became a part of the Match Gro ...

Stripe Stripe, striped, or stripes may refer to: Decorations *Stripe (pattern), a line or band that differs in colour or tone from an adjacent surface *Racing stripe, a vehicle decoration * Service stripe, a decoration of the U.S. military Entertainment ...

and

Square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

. He is also involved in artistic and literary activities. In 2012, following a

paramotor Paramotor is the generic name for the harness and propulsive portion of a powered paragliding, powered paraglider ("PPG"). There are two basic types of paramotors: foot launch and wheel launch. Foot launch models consist of a frame with harnes ...

accident, he wrote his first book, ''Three Days in Nepal'', published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

Biography

Childhood and early career

Jean-David Blanc was born on 27 May 1968 in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

), in a family of musicians. His father is the

prodigy Serge Blanc who entered the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

at the age of 10, and his mother a

music teacher Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

. His younger brother, Emmanuel Blanc, is a violist within the French National Orchestra (

Orchestre National de France The Orchestre National de France (; ; abbr. ONF) is a French symphony orchestra based in Paris, founded in 1934. Placed under the administration of the French national radio (named Radio France since 1975), the ONF performs mainly in the Grand ...

). He took an early interest in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

, a nascent field in France at the time.

Business career

At the age of 15, Jean-David Blanc and Jean-Marc Royer created the

''Futura'', an imaginary city with discussion forums and virtual meeting places like a

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

or a

police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

. He created his first IT services company, Crystal Technologies, and launched the first electronic information service for

Minitel The Minitel, officially known as TELETEL, was an interactive videotex online service accessible through telephone lines. It was the world's first and most successful mass-market online service prior to the World Wide Web. It was developed in Ces ...

, "Marlboro Racing Service", the following year. At 17, he set up Concerto Télématique, a company providing interactive Minitel and telephone services to major brands such as

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (PMI, now separate from Altria) in most global territories outside the ...

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

and

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Creation of AlloCiné

At the age of 22, Jean-David Blanc came up with the idea of AlloCiné, a fully automated

information service by

, providing free schedules of all

cinemas. At that time, the cinema showtimes could only be read on the spot or in cultural guides such as ''

L'Officiel des spectacles ''L'Officiel des spectacles'' is a weekly cultural guide to Paris founded by Jean-Philippe Richemond in 1946. Its purpose is to list every cultural event in Paris and Île-de-France. History The first edition appeared on September 25, 1946, unde ...

'' or '' Pariscope''. Jean-David Blanc and his co-founder, Patrick Holzman, obtained an easily remembered non-surcharged number, 40 30 20 10, which will make the service a success. In 1995,

launched advance ticket booking which didn't exist in France at the time, then multiplied the distribution channels:

interactive kiosk An interactive kiosk is a computer terminal featuring specialized hardware and software that provides access to information and applications for communication, commerce, entertainment, or education. By 2010, the largest bill pay kiosk network ...

s, Minitel, PalmPilot, then

in 1997. After running AlloCiné for ten years as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, he sold the company in 2001 to Vivendi-Universal. The ambition of the company headed by

Jean-Marie Messier Jean-Marie Messier (born 13 December 1956) is a French businessman who was chairman and chief executive of the multinational media conglomerate Vivendi (formerly Vivendi Universal) until 2002. He is also frequently referred to by nicknames such ...

was then to develop a worldwide service and make AlloCiné its cornerstone, but Jean-David Blanc finally decided to leave the group shortly after.

Creation of Molotov

In July 2016 he launched, notably with

Pierre Lescure Pierre Lescure (; born ) is a French journalist and television executive. He is known for having founded the French TV music show ''Les Enfants du rock'' broadcast on public television from 1981 to 1988 and for having led the French Canal+ cha ...

, founder of

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

, a new online TV channels distribution service called Molotov. The aim was then to offer access to live channels and

catchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and sour flavor. "Ketchup" now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes for different varieties contained mushrooms, oysters, mussels, egg whites, grapes, or walnuts, among ...

programming without any hardware other than Internet access, for which he raised €35 million. The company makes money by offering programme recording options and pay-TV channels packages. At its launch, the service was considered by the industry as the future of

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, innovating with its interface and ease of navigation through television programmes. Molotov reached one million users in eight months. The company was acquired in November 2021 for €164.3 million by

, an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

subscription-based

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

service, which aimed to make it its

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an hub. Jean-David Blanc stayed on as president of Molotov and became its

chief strategy officer A chief strategy officer (CSO) is an executive that usually reports to the CEO and has primary responsibility for strategy formulation and management, including developing the corporate vision and strategy, overseeing strategic planning, and leadi ...

. Molotov then claimed more than thirteen million users, including 250,000 paying users.

Angel investor

He is one of the first investors in

, the French pioneer of

dating websites Dating is a stage of romantic relationships in which individuals engage in activity together, often with the intention of evaluating each other's suitability as a partner in a future intimate relationship. It falls into the category of courtsh ...

founded by Marc Simoncini and dozens of start-ups such as the

payment service,

launched by

Jack Dorsey Jack Patrick Dorsey (born November 19, 1976) is an American businessperson, who is a co-founder of Twitter, Inc. and its CEO during 2007–2008 and 2015–2021, as well as co-founder, principal executive officer and chairman of Block, Inc. (deve ...

the founder of

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

Coursera Coursera Inc. () is an American global massive open online course provider. It was founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offe ...

, Wemoms (later acquired by

Voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * West African Vodún, a religion practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

) or the Stuart delivery service (acquired by La Poste). In 2022 and 2023, he is ranked in the top 20 of France's favorite

s established by the magazine ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

''.

Artistic activities and private life

Jean-David Blanc has been a musician from an early age. He worked with his father the violinist Serge Blanc and studied

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

with the pedagogue Robert Kaddouch, as well as

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

at the American School of Modern Music in

. In

, he has worked with actors and directors on various movies. In particular, he collaborated with

Bruno Monsaingeon Bruno Monsaingeon (; born 5 December 1943) is a French filmmaker, writer, and violinist. He has made a number of documentary films about famous twentieth-century musicians, including Glenn Gould, Sviatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh, Piotr Andersze ...

on the filming of the recital of the '' Tchaikovsky's Trio'' by

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He took a part in the movie '' Chance or Coincidence'' by

Claude Lelouch Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (; born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critical ...

in 1998. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, he produced the movie ''Cavalcade'', starring

Marion Cotillard Marion Cotillard (; born 30 September 1975) is a French actress who has appeared in both European and Hollywood productions. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Marion Cotillard, various accolades, including an Ac ...

and

Bérénice Bejo Bérénice Bejo (; born 7 July 1976) is a French-Argentine actress best known for playing Christiana in '' A Knight's Tale'' (2001) and Peppy Miller in '' The Artist'' (2011). Her work in the latter earned her a nomination for the Academy Award ...

, adapted from the autobiographical book by Bruno de Stabenrath. In 2012, he wrote his first book, ''Three Days in Nepal'', published in

by the

Éditions Robert Laffont Éditions Robert Laffont () is a book publishing company in France founded in 1941 by (1916–2010). Its publications are distributed in almost all francophone countries, but mainly in France, Canada and in Belgium. Imprints belonging to Édit ...

and in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The book tells his experience in 2011 when he found himself trapped in the mountains of

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

following a

accident. Unable to call for help, he spent three days descending the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

alone to reach the valley and return to civilisation. Jean-David Blanc has been in a relationship with the French

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and producer Sarah Lelouch, with whom he has a daughter, Rebecca Blanc-Lelouch, born in 1998, then with Australian actress

Melissa George Melissa Suzanne George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian and American actress. She began her career playing Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera ''Home and Away'' between 1993–1996. After moving to the United States, George made her ...

with whom he has two children, Raphaël, born in 2014 and Solal, born in 2015. The relationship ended in 2016 when Melissa George accused him of domestic violence. Jean-David Blanc, who has always denied these accusations, was found innocent and discharged on 5 February 2021. Melissa George, meanwhile, was convicted for using false certificate in court, domestic violence, defamation., and on November 10, 2021 and June 27 2024 to a 6-month suspended prison sentence for attempted child abduction.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanc, Jean-David French businesspeople 1968 births French film producers Living people