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Stéphane Courbit (born 28 April 1965) is a French businessman in the sector of media and television. In 2022, his net worth was estimated to be €2,200 million euros. He was listed as the 56th-richest man in France.


Biography


Beginnings

Stéphane Courbit graduated from the ISG Business School of Paris and the University Institutes of Technology of Valence. In 1990, he took part in the talk show, '' Ciel, mon mardi !''. At the end of the show, he met the host,
Christophe Dechavanne Christophe Dechavanne (; born 23 January 1958) is a French television and radio host and program producer. He is the host of '' La Roue de la fortune''. Biography Dechavanne attended the Cours Hattemer, a private school. He started working as a ...
, and made him a show proposal. Christophe Dechavanne hired him as an intern at its production company Coyote where Stéphane Courbit became the producer of shows such as ''Combien ça coûte ?'', ''Coucou c'est nous !'' and ''La Première Fois''.


Audiovisual production

In September 1993, he made a brief appearance on
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...
to work on the show ''TV Vision'' produced by Charles Villeneuve. In the spring of 1994, he collaborated with the French TV presenter
Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
with whom he created the company CASE productions (Courbit Arthur Stéphane Essebag), which would become ASP (Arthur Stéphane Productions). In 1998 and 2001,
Endemol Endemol B.V. (stylized in all lowercase) was a Dutch-based media company that produced and distributed multiplatform entertainment content. The company annually produced more than 15,000 hours of programming across scripted and non-scripted gen ...
purchased ASP in two sessions and Stéphane Courbit became the president of
Endemol France Endemol France (formerly known as Endemol Shine France) is a French production subsidiary of Banijay Entertainment. History In Spring 1994, television presenter Arthur and producer Stéphane Courbit launched two French television production comp ...
. In April 2001, Endemol France produced '' Loft Story'', a reality television show aired by M6.


LOV Group

At the end of 2007, Stéphane Courbit left Endemol to create his own
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
, LOV Group, focused on activities related to the entertainment and IT industries. LOV Group operated in four main businesses.


Audiovisual production

In January 2008, alongside
Groupe Arnault A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches o ...
, the Agnelli and De Agostini families and AMS Industries, Stéphane Courbit created
Banijay Entertainment Banijay Entertainment S.A. (formerly Banijay Group and later Banijay) is a French multinational television production and distribution company which is the world's largest international content producer and distributor with over 130 production co ...
, a holding company regrouping a dozen of production companies: Air Productions (
Nagui Nagui Fam () is a French TV and radio personality. In his professional life, he goes by his first name Nagui. Early life Nagui Fam was born in Alexandria, Egypt. Career Fam's television career began in 1987 on M6, and switched to TF1 in 1 ...
), Banijay Productions (formerly ALJ of Alexia Laroche-Joubert), H2O Productions (
Cyril Hanouna Cyril Valéry Isaac Hanouna (; ; born 23 September 1974) is a French radio and television presenter, writer, author, columnist, producer, singer and occasional actor and comedian of Tunisian origin. He hosts the French TV show '' Touche pas à mo ...
) in France; Cuarzo in Spain; Brainpool in Germany; Nordisk in Norway; Bunim/Murray in the United States; Screentime in Australia.
In 2007, Courbit invested in Euro Media Group, the European leader in providing audiovisual services that owns the television studios of La Plaine St Denis through Studios de France.
In July 2015, Banijay Group and
Zodiak Media Zodiak Media was a Swedish and later French global independent television group with up to 45 companies covering fiction, entertainment, and animation, spread across 15 countries, including France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, S ...
announced their merger, creating the world's largest content production and distribution company not controlled by a media group in February 2016.


Online gambling

At the end of 2007, Stéphane Courbit created Mangas Capital Gaming, renamed BetClic Everest Group, which acquired four companies in the area of sports gambling,
poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...
and on-line casino: Betclic in 2007, Expekt and Bet-at-Home in 2009.


Energy

Stéphane Courbit has been a shareholder alongside Jacques Veyrat in Direct Energie, an alternative provider of electricity in France. In July 2011, Direct Energie announced an agreement with Verbund in which Direct Energie would buy 46% of Poweo. After its merger with Poweo, Direct Energie became France's third energy provider after EDF and Engie (forme GDF-Suez) and the first independent electricity provider. In 2016, Direct Energie supplied electricity and natural gas to over 2 million customers. In July 2018, French major
Total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...
completed its acquisition of a 73% stake in Direct Energie. The deal, worth €1.4 billion ($1.65 billion), was first announced in April. Total will buy Direct Energie's shares for €42 each.


Luxury hospitality

Stéphane Courbit invested in tourism. LOV Group's subsidiary LOV Hotel Collection owns and/or operates luxury hotels in
Courchevel Courchevel () is a French Alps ski resort located in the Tarentaise Valley. It is a part of Les Trois Vallées, the largest linked ski areas in the world. Courchevel also refers to the towns of Courchevel 1300 (Le Praz), Courchevel 1550, Co ...
(Les Airelles, acquired in 2007 and Aman Le Mélézin, acquired in 2013), in
Saint-Tropez Saint-Tropez ( , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var departments of France, department and the regions of France, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It is west of Nice and east of Marseille, o ...
(Pan Dei) and in
Gordes Gordes (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The residents are known as ''Gordiens.'' The nearest big city is Avignon; smaller cities nearby include Cavaillon, L'Isle-s ...
(La Bastide de Gordes acquired in the beginning of 2014).


Others

In 2009, Stéphane Courbit entered the music-label company My Major Company, founded by Simon Istolainen, Michael Goldman, Sevan Barsikian, Anthony Marciano and Boris Pavlovic. He also invested in Le Five, the first network of indoor soccer clubs in France (equity withdrawn in 2016).


Misuse of mental ability re Liliane Bettencourt

On 28 May 2015, the
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
criminal court issued a €250,000 fine to Courbit for wrongfully obtaining €144 million in investment funds from aging
L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris
heiress
Liliane Bettencourt Liliane Henriette Charlotte Bettencourt (; née Schueller; 21 October 1922 – 21 September 2017) was a French heiress, socialite and businesswoman. She was a board member and one of the principal shareholders of L'Oréal. At the time of her ...
, citing the use of false information and omissions, and in general, misuse of her diminishing mental ability.


Notes and references


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Courbit, Stephane 1965 births Living people People from Crest, Drôme French businesspeople French television producers ISG Business School alumni Endemol people