Andre Rousselet, the founder of Canal Plus, passed away last Sunday at his home in Paris, at the age of 93. Rousselet started his career as a magistrate, before becoming the owner of taxi company G7 (now one of Paris’ largest) in 1960. Rousselet was a personal friend of then-president François Mitterand, and was appointed Cabinet Director in 1981. In 1982, Rousselet became president of major advertising company Havas. In 1984, with the help of Mitterand, he founded France’s Canal Plus, first pay-TV network, mostly with the frequency of La5, the TV network founded by Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi. Rousselet left the company after a decade as chairman in 1994, when a shareholder’s pact handed control of the channel to Havas, along with utilities firm Compagnie Generale des Eax (now Vivendi) and Société Générale.
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