Niel

Xavier Niel, the entrepreneur, lost patience and launched one of his former lieutenants on an expeditious cost-cutting operation.

Plenty of money, a strong industrial and financial track record for Xavier Niel and Mathieu Pigasse.

He may be a bit paranoid, but Mr Niel plans to wreak financial violence on France's dominant telecoms firms.

Mr Niel fears ruthless tactics may be used to thwart the creation of a powerful rival to the big three.

Mr Niel, who owns 66% of Iliad's shares, is already France's only information-technology billionaire, on paper at least.

Niel holds a 62. 7 percent percent stake following the sale, the company said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday.

By halving prices and lifting limits on the length of calls, Mr Niel hopes to take a big slice of the market.

Mr Niel and his co-investors will not shut down existing printing plants and open new ones as a way to bypass the print union.

Marian Forrester is a beautiful woman who delights her husband, her lover, and young Niel Herbert, the narrator of this enchanting tale.

Also, Niel Barnard, a former chief spy for the apartheid regime, who used to keep a thick file on Bishop Tutu.

Niel Bohr, Danish physicist, received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922 in recognition of his contributions to atomic theory.

Niel Robertson says you never have to have an original idea in your life, you just have to listen to others.

Mr Niel plans to lay off up to 220 of the 260 workers at the plant.

Mr Niel, too, could lead France's industry out of bondage.

To their credit, France's authorities have backed Mr Niel all the way from broadband into content and now mobile telecoms.

Mr Niel points out that mobile-phone prices are strikingly similar in France.

On the other hand, Mr Niel may lack one of Mr Murdoch's key advantages.