 La Presse Dans Le Sang
Gérald de Roquemaurel
Published by Robert Laffont, Paris
In less than 200 pages, the famous French publisher, always recognised by his impeccable bow-ties, tells of 35 years of magazine publishing in France and around the globe. After finishing his education from the most elite graduate school in Paris, Gérald de Roquemaurel escapes his destiny to join the French administration and becomes publisher of French Playboy at the age of 26. He will soon rise to become Daniel Filipacchi’s right-hand man and expand a middle-sized local magazine company (with Lui and Paris Match) to a major international publishing giant with about 300 titles in 41 countries (from ELLE to Woman’s Day and Car and Driver).
La Presse Dans Le Sang (The Press In My Blood) offers an inside view of the magazine industry from an executive who is a direct descendent of Louis Hachette, the founder of the magazine, book and distribution company. It also is an itinerary of passion to innovate and expand what is described by the author as “the best industry in the world.”
A master at putting deals together (even when he had little capital), Gérald’s strong drive and vision made him one of the greatest developers and influencers in the magazine industry over the last 30 years. From a world of international publishing which was dominated by licensing agreements with little involvement from the owner of the masthead, Gérald created a new model of expansion with joint-ventures around the world with ELLE, emphasising brand consistency and local editorial relevance.
The French development and the globalisation of the group managed by Gérald are supported by a wealth of ideas about media strategies, richly illustrated with inside stories:
“Magazines cannot be managed with a short term strategy. You must have an editorial vision and not a pure business plan driven direction” he writes.
However, Gérald remains modest about the financial success he created, along with the large personal wealth he generated for his two main shareholders: Daniel Filipacchi and Jean-Luc Lagardère. In 1983, ELLE was a slightly unprofitable, dusty fashion magazine published in one country. Today, the ELLE brand and its 35 editions around the world are worth several billion Euros. Without Gérald, this would not have happened.
But after the retirement of Daniel and the sudden death of Jean-Luc, Gérald found himself reporting to Jean-Luc’s son, a young man whose inherited wealth had mostly been created by Gérald. And the irony of the story is that the young man thought he could become wealthier with a short-term strategy, with fewer staff, with cost-cutting and without Gérald. And even without the name Hachette, which was replaced by Lagardère Active.
Today, the author of La Presse dans le Sang is an investment banker who continues to build value and several large international media groups have come to him for advice. Gérald has not abandoned his passion for magazines and certainly not for Hachette. I was by his side in New York in 1979 after the demise of Look. As he was addressing the staff, he borrowed General McArthur’s famous quote and said: “I shall return.”
Didier Guérin spent
14 years working closely
with Gérald de Roquemaurel,
who gave him the passion
for magazine publishing
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Gérald de Roquemaurel (right) with Didier Guérin
at the launch party of ELLE Australia in Sydney, in 1990 |
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