If there's anything buzzy in the tech world, chances are Xavier Niel has caught wind of it. The hacker turned entrepreneur owns a sprawling telecom empire, sits on TikTok parent ByteDance’s five-member board, and is a major startup champion, counting French darling Mistral AI among his investments.
The billionaire has had a keen eye on tech developments throughout his career. But he has also witnessed Europe slip behind the U.S. and China in innovation.
