Bonum Certa Men Certa

Understanding Thierry Breton: “Mister Cash” Arrives at France Télécom



Overview





Understanding Thierry Breton



Further parts pending review and research




France Télécom and Breton
The "turnaround king" takes over as CEO at the troubled France Télécom (2002)



Summary: The psychological harassment of the France Télécom workforce led the "suicide wave" after Breton had left France Télécom

By 2002 Breton had acquired a reputation as an aggressive high-octane manager who was known for ruthless "cost-killing" and ambitious sales targets and who liked to say that he was putting his staff "under pressure" to get results.



According to the Wall Street Journal, one of his favorite sayings was, "Anything but results is philosophy".

At the time France Télécom, Europe's second-largest phone company, was carrying one of the largest debt loads in the world. Its $ 76 billion debt burden meant that all of its cash was being eaten up by interest payments, with nothing left over to reduce the principals on its loans.

Within weeks of Breton's appointment as CEO, investors demonstrated their faith in the new leader of France Télécom by driving stock prices up to double the rock-bottom low. The French finance ministry's level of trust was evident in the code name Breton was given during hiring negotiations: "Mister Cash".

"At the time France Télécom, Europe's second-largest phone company, was carrying one of the largest debt loads in the world. Its $ 76 billion debt burden meant that all of its cash was being eaten up by interest payments, with nothing left over to reduce the principals on its loans."Just two months after taking over, Breton produced his rescue plan to France Télécom's board of directors. The three-tiered plan called for slashing costs to increase cash flow, refinancing debt, and generating $16 billion from shareholders through a capital increase, all in efforts to save $30 billion over three years.

As soon as the board gave its approval, Breton put out a message to the company's 50 top managers asking them to immediately join a conference call - it was eleven o'clock at night in Paris. Breton wanted to brief the managers to start implementing his plan the very next morning and, characteristically, he wanted to make them feel challenged rather than comfortable.

After only 18 months on the job at France Télécom, business was looking up. In that span of time Breton increased 2003 revenues 3.4 percent over the previous year to $58 billion, chiefly on gains in wireless and broadband Internet technologies. He boosted 2003 operating income to $12 billion—a 45 percent increase—through tighter financial controls and cost cutting. The company's $76 billion debt fell to $53 billion.

The blueprint which Breton applied to France Télécom bears similarities to the overhaul he engineered at Thomson but there is a darker side to this success story.

It's no secret that France Télécom started making headlines for all the wrong reasons under the management of Didier Lombard who took over the reins as CEO from Breton in February 2005 when the latter was appointed as Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry.

"This reorganization was imposed unilaterally in the absence of consultation with trade unions and was accompanied by a "suicide wave" of France Télécom employees (more than 60 between 2006 and 2009)."Lombard continued the group reorganization policy initiated by Breton and implemented a plan which foresaw the suppression of 22000 posts and the mobility of 10000 workers over three years between 2006 and 200). This reorganization was imposed unilaterally in the absence of consultation with trade unions and was accompanied by a "suicide wave" of France Télécom employees (more than 60 between 2006 and 2009).

Didier Lombard resigned as CEO in February 2011, a few months before the planned end of his term, but he remained on the France Télécom payroll as a "special advisor" until he left the company entirely in March 2011 due the controversy surrounding him and his € 500,000 annual "retainer" as an advisor.

French tribunal
In May 2019 Didier Lombard and six other former France Télécom executives went on trial accused of moral harassment linked to a spate of suicides among employees.



Lombard's management of France Télécom came under judicial investigation from July 2012 onwards and together with six other former executives he went on trial in Paris in May 2019 accused of psychological harassment of the France Télécom workforce in connection with the "suicide wave" which accompanied the restructuring.

"...psychological harassment of the France Télécom workforce in connection with the "suicide wave" which accompanied the restructuring."Although the "suicide wave" happened after Thierry Breton had moved on from France Télécom, some commentators have claimed that he bears a "moral responsibility" for laying the foundation of the toxic management practices pursued by Lombard and his colleagues.

In Parts 3 and 4 we will examine these matters in more detail.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: Games and More
Links for the day
Why We're Reporting Brett Wilson LLP for Apparently Misusing Their Licence to Protect American Microsofters Who Attack Women
For those who have not been keeping abreast
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
 
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
Links for the day
Newer Press Reports Confirm That Microsoft Shuts Down 'Hey Hi' (AI) Labs Despite All the Hype
The "hey hi" (AI) bubble is not sustainable
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025
Links 31/03/2025: China Tensions, Bombs Falling in Myanmar After Earthquake
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: Falling Out of Love With Tech, Sunsetting openSNP
Links for the day
R.T.O. at IBM in Texas and Atlanta (State of Georgia) Expected as "Soft Layoffs" Catalyst This Coming Year
It also sounds like more IBM layoffs are in the making
Law Firms Can Also Lose Their Licence for Clearly Misusing It
The bottom line is, never made the false assumption that because you can pile up SLAPPs in a docket you will not suffer from bad reputation or even get disbarred
Link between institutional abuse, Swiss jurists, Debianism and FSFE
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
LLM Slop Piggybacking News About GNU/Linux and Distorting It
new examples
Links 31/03/2025: Press and Democracy Under Further Attacks in the US, Attitudes Towards Slop Sour
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: The OSI Does Not Respect Anybody's Privacy
The surveillance mafia that bans dissent or key people (even co-founders) with dissenting views
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: More X-Filesposting and Dreaming in Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 30, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 30, 2025