Iliad: A Financial Platform for Building New Business Lines
Iliad’s financial figures, which on the surface appear to reflect a successful telecom operator, mask the bigger picture. The group founded by Xavier Niel is in the process of dismantling its traditional growth model based on market expansion to transform itself into a financial platform. The focus is less on recruiting subscribers and more on monetizing an existing customer base to quietly fund its ambitions in the cloud and AI, thereby redefining its own identity. Far from the meteoric growth of yesteryear, the group’s incumbent operator is treading water in a saturated domestic market, pushing Iliad to seek its next phase of growth well beyond telecoms. The group nevertheless closed out 2025 with solid figures: consolidated revenue of €10.35 billion (+3.2%), EBITDAaL up 5% to €4.04 billion, and operating free…