Vivendi's annual meeting lasted two hours, 26 minutes and 31 seconds. To find the moment where chairman Vincent Bolloré anoints son Yannick his successor, you have to fast forward to the final 30 seconds, reports Bloomberg.
After a brief preamble where Bolloré Pere announces it would be his last AGM, and recounts an anecdote about Louis XIV waiting too long to pass control to his son, he revealed the board and corporate governance committee would vote on the nomination shortly.
While attendees start to applaud, the camera cuts to a grinning Bolloré Fils as the father says he hopes to remain "advisor" to the board. Almost as an afterthought, he tells the room: "We'll keep you updated as to whether Yannick is confirmed or not - it's not a done deal."
The episode is pretty bizarre by usual corporate governance norms. But, when it comes to Vivendi, unsurprising. Needless to say, Yannick was approved. The nomination committee is four strong, of whom three are Bolloré appointees (including Vincent himself). For years, Bolloré denied he was trying to build a media dynasty through his minority stake in Vivendi. Then last June, he admitted his aim was to place Yannick at the helm.
By the letter of the law, everything was done properly. But it displayed a characteristic insouciance towards the investors who hold the 80 percent of the stock that the family company Bolloré SA doesn't.
Because of French corporate rules, which give shares double votes after two years, the Bollorés hold some 30 percent of the voting rights. It's the sort of structure of which even a Silicon Valley founder would be proud.