Banished under Sarkozy, the revenge of Cécilia and Richard Attias<

Their business cards are flattering. Mrs. Attias chairs the Cécilia Attias Foundation for Women, with a humanitarian vocation. Mr. Attias runs Richard Attias & Associates, which he created to be "a global catalyst for ideas". In New York, they repositioned themselves as a power couple.

We see them at the Clinton Global Initiative, at the Marrakech Film Festival, at the L'Oréal-Unesco Awards evening. And since Friday, they are, of course, in Libreville for the third edition of the New York Forum Africa, creation of Richard Attias, placed under the patronage of the Gabonese president, Ali Bongo. Richard welcomes the 1,500 distinguished guests, business leaders, investment fund managers, ministers from around the world, first and foremost Laurent Fabius.

At the Marrakech International Film Festival in 2009 (Abdelhak Senna/AFP PHOTO).

What revenge! Seven years ago, when Cécilia left the Elysée to live her life with the ace of event communication at Publicis, they were both cursed, excommunicated. They were the outcasts of the Republic. They have rebuilt themselves, and they are proud of it. They just have a few small scores to settle. Sarkozyists make the former first lady the great witch of the bling-bling years? She comes out, like a clarification, "A desire for truth", an autobiography in rose water.

Counteroffensive

This is not war, the Attias do not want it, nor can they afford it. It's a velvet counter-offensive. More than anyone, Richard Attias knows the iron law of com: always come back to the founding event to sculpt an image. That of a Cecilia camped out as a heroine, as the liberator of the Bulgarian nurses yesterday, of all the women in danger in the world today.

On March 26, they are in Sofia. At the Kempinski hotel, on the heights of the city, Richard has reserved the presidential suite for Cécilia. Under the baroque gilding of the suite, Kristiana, Snejana, Valya and Valentina advance in their best clothes towards their "liberator". Hugs, smiles, emotions. “Sit there on the sofa, between them,” Attias advises his wife in a soft voice, immortalizing the moment with his cell phone. All that's missing is the tarmac at Sofia airport to replay the scene that has remained in the memories, where Cécilia emerges pale and victorious from the fight waged "at the risk of [her] life" against Gaddafi.

Cecilia Attias with Bulgarian nurses, in Sofia, March 27, 2014. (Nikolay Doy/AFP)

By entrusting her with this mission, Nicolas Sarkozy hoped to convince her to remain the first lady of France – and her wife. Today, Richard Attias plays the prince consorts. The tour in Sofia is worthy of a state visit. Sedan with smoked windows, head-to-head with the Bulgarian head of state, the mayor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. For two days, everything is perfect… Well, almost.

Five star goof

Evening falls on the Kempinski when the Net goes up in flames on their visit to the Salon du Livre. The previous Sunday, Cécilia Attias had come for a signing session. In Paris, people make fun of this scene taken from life by Canal+'s "Le Petit Journal": Cécilia Attias congratulating Edwy Plenel. Full! The journalist who has made it his mission to reveal the dark side of the Sarkozy years – from the Karachi affair to the Bettencourt affair, including the supposed financing of the presidential campaign by Libya! Richard Attias is not left out, who compliments the boss of Mediapart: "You were very good at 'Crosswords'." In Yves Calvi's show, Plenel proclaims neither more nor less than "the Sarkozyist forfeiture leads to the history of the French right". In Sofia, Richard gets carried away against the great nonsense of the journalists. Cecilia whispers:

As great socialites, delighted to find themselves in the Mecca of books, they committed a five-star blunder. Their subconscious has spoken: intimate resentments, past wounds have resurfaced.

Cécilia Attias congratulates Edwy Plenel at the Book Fair, March 23, 2014 (Screenshot/Canal+).

For the former president, the main thing is that the book of the woman who shared all his secrets turned out to be harmless. Cécilia can be so unpredictable… Until the day before its publication, which he learned late, Sarkozy was tense. For him, the episode of the Salon du Livre is just a storm in a teacup. On the other hand, under the coat, the sarkozystes, them, are unleashed. "For his business, Richard needs Cécilia: she is the bait", assures one. “Attias has something to ask [implied, Sarkozy]. He puts the pressure on,” supposes another. While a friend of Sarkozy concludes:

romantic duet

Who are the Attias really? A romantic duo? A couple of upstarts? And their flashy philanthropy, what fruits does it produce? In Paris, former relatives accuse Attias of exploiting the notoriety of his wife. In Libreville, others believe that he is mocking the image of a dictator. The New York Forum Africa is the crown jewel of Attias & Associates' business. He had the idea of ​​this Davos of emerging countries and made it a pharaonic event.

But here is a Front des Indignants, bringing together the Gabonese opposition, denouncing the "New York Farine Africa" ​​- hear, this "Attias couple" who "roll the Africans in flour". This unprecedented alliance of opponents of Ali Bongo even wrote an "open letter to Laurent Fabius" to dissuade him from coming to Libreville (read below):

Hot tip for gen Z - learn how to take paint off brick, remove shiplap, and hang a real, non-barn door. Then cash i… https://t.co/1mQFLvJagu

— Lindsey Becker Wed Apr 28 23:33:37 +0000 2021

Last year, American director Spike Lee, arrested by the same group, canceled at the last moment. In Libreville, the forum's budget, paid for by the Gabonese presidency, is the object of all fantasies. Officially at 5 million dollars, it would reach, say opponents, double or triple.

Cécilia and Richard Attias, with African first ladies and Gabonese President Ali Bongo, in Libreville, in 2012 (Wilfried Mbinah/AFP PHOTO).

It was Bongo who opened the doors of Africa to Attias. The king of forums also sells, without apparent qualms, his services to Denis Sassou-Nguesso, in Congo-Brazzaville, for whom he set up Build Africa, or to Teodoro Obiang, in Equatorial Guinea, with his Emerging Equatorial Guinea. In Senegal, it is the communication budget, won for the next Summit of La Francophonie, in November in Dakar, which has raised the controversy. There was no call for tenders, but a simple "consultation" led by President Macky Sall.

The case had an echo even in the corridors of the Elysée, where the former minister Yamina Benguigui was moved by François Hollande: "Do you see yourself posing in the photo next to Cécilia ex-Sarkozy?" But Macky Sall did not flinch. He even signed an additional contract of 400,000 euros with Richard Attias & Associates to benefit from his communications advice.

He, the Moroccan Jew raised in Fez, grandson of the tailor of Mohammed V, son of a civil servant in public works, believes he is better able to understand the continent than Europeans. His relatives say he was "hit" by the surge of "hate" in the African press and by the hurtful attacks on Cécilia, who "does so much for African women". If necessary, he will prosecute the purveyors of "gossip". He will protect Attias & Associates, its 50 employees, 200 service providers, its turnover of 50 million dollars this year, at a time when, consecration, the world number one in advertising, WPP, has just taken 30% of the capital of his company.

The fall

It is that before arriving there, the slope was hard to go up! Out of love for Cecilia, Richard had lost everything.

The front page of "Paris Match" revealing their affair, in 2005, had caused a first earthquake. The French president was devastated. In Lucerne, Switzerland, another man exploded at the sight of the magazine. Klaus Schwab, president and creator of Davos, who had made Attias, grand chamberlain of this prestigious summit, his partner, fulminates: Davos is dirty! When it is obvious, three years later, that Richard and Cécilia are going to marry, the ax falls. Schwab considers himself deceived: a few months earlier, he had received a letter from Attias denying the rumors of marriage. He then obtained from Maurice Lévy his eviction from Publicis. The Parisian networks are turning away.

Richard Attias concedes: "A great business leader came to see me to tell me: I would have continued with you, but ONE made me understand that I would lose more than I would gain." Cécilia adds: "Nicolas immediately phoned this business manager to tell him: I recommend Attias to you." This is not enough: everyone flees the pariah. We must leave.

Past the fury of the first months, which led Nicolas Sarkozy to shoot terrible arrows ("She left with the electrician!" we lend him in reference to the organization of his coronation at the head of the UMP , in 2004, at Le Bourget, entrusted to Richard Attias), relations between the first divorcee of the Elysée and the former first lady are normalizing.

family peace

Their son Louis is at the center of their concerns. Scandal, treachery, separation deeply affected the teenager. We must restore the peace of blended families. "All those who talk nonsense forget this central equation", says a close friend of the Attias. Louis was not happy in Dubai, where Richard had found a first contract. In the United States, where they settle, he will have to find his balance. The most difficult years are now over. Richard Attias is delighted to have been able to take the teenager to visit the White House for his birthday. Nicolas Sarkozy proudly shows the photo of his son in a cadet's uniform, his hair shaved. At the age of 17, Louis joined the Valley Forge Academy, near Philadelphia, with its top-of-the-range education and its all-military rigor.

Attias did not leave Publicis empty-handed. In 2009, he invested $3 million in the creation of Richard Attias & Associates. "Do things by yourself", encourages Cécilia, who plays sparring partners.

He is a hyperactive light sleeper, a false calm who bites his nails until he bleeds. Their disgrace will make it possible to create the "little Davos" which Klaus Schwab did not want to hear about. Cécilia has intuition to spare, a frenzied sense of organization and always the same taste for politics. Richard has talent, all his competitors agree. A first forum in New York, the following year, did not obtain the expected impact, despite the boost from Nicolas Sarkozy, who dispatched his Minister of the Economy, Christine Lagarde, and the presence of billionaire friends Carlos Slim and Michael Bloomberg. The beginnings are difficult while the Attias hold on to their lifestyle.

"If I can help them..."

So they are firing on all cylinders. To those who are surprised to see him go to the Doha Goals at the end of 2012, organized by the Attias, Nicolas Sarkozy replies: "If I can help them..." The former president, who has become a lecturer with luxurious emoluments, has decided that he would graciously deliver his speech on the values ​​of sport in the capital of Qatar. "It was the emir who called Nicolas first to invite him, says an intimate. He knew that Richard was the organizer. He also insisted through Cécilia that Nicolas come. With Sarkozy, he was sure to have a great fallout."

Won ! But the photographers will not have the shock image: when Cécilia Attias passes in front of the first row of personalities where the former Elysée stands, they do not have a look at each other… Behind the scenes , they of course spoke to each other, but they know that an accomplice photo would have eclipsed the forum.

Cécilia Attias in front of Nicolas Sarkozy and Ali Bongo during the opening ceremony of the World Sports Forum in Doha on December 11, 2012 (Karim Jaafar/AFP).

Cécilia, still looking for a role, now has her foundation. It's an idea of ​​Richard, a platform for this Catholic who wears a diamond cross and preaches that "one succeeds in life only by helping others". The newspapers echoed his actions with Hour Children, which rescues the children of American prisoners, and an association that fights against human trafficking in Odessa, or his support for the Nelson Foundation. -Mandela. But from articles to interviews, these are the same three examples that come up over and over. Reading the tax documents of the Cécilia Attias Foundation for Women, which aims to "provide logistical and financial assistance to NGOs", reveals a very underdeveloped activity (read below).

Proximity to Bongo

Attias & Associates, on the other hand, is running at full speed. Richard pushes the collar, much better, dares it, that a consultant of McKinsey. He prides himself on denouncing the scourge of unemployment, a "social bomb", and announcing the rise of Africa, "when the African woman looks in the same direction as the African man, the continent will go very far"... His know-how impresses more than his speeches.

Its logistics are commensurate with the challenge, and it brings in its high-tech broadcasting equipment by special planes...

His closeness to Bongo is such that in Libreville he is called a private adviser. “Pure fabrication,” he denies. It was Pascaline Bongo who played the go-between between the two men. In January 2012, Richard Attias met the Gabonese president's sister at the George-V. He evokes a conversation started four years earlier with Bongo, in the presence of the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, during the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Dakar.

A month later, he was called to Libreville. Cécilia has privileged relations with Sylvia Bongo as with many African first ladies, or even Sheikha Moza of Qatar, who was at her side in 2007 during the July 14 parade. She never forgot him, inviting the Attias couple to her property on the heights of Mougins.

Fusional

Cécilia and Richard Attias are as close in love as they are in business. He is entrusted with the celebrations of the centenary of the arrival of Albert Schweitzer in Gabon? The Cécilia Foundation immediately took over the renovation of the museum dedicated to the doctor. In the Central African Republic, too. During a hearing on the sidelines of the New York Forum Africa in 2013 with the Central African President, Michel Djotodia, "M.Attias proposed to bring to our country the daughter of the Angolan President, Isabelle dos Santos, who was looking for investments, says Prosper Ndouba, former spokesperson for Djotodia, and then, very quickly, he went to get his wife, Cécilia, who wanted our support to become ambassador for the protection of Central African wildlife at the UN. Without success this time.

Their business has not had to suffer from the French political situation. But tomorrow, if Nicolas Sarkozy pretended again to the Elysée? How can you doubt that they would be relentlessly scrutinized? They don't talk about that scenario. But the question, of course, runs through their heads.

Marie Guichoux and Caroline Michel

The small steps of the Cécilia foundation Her role model is Cherie Blair and her charitable works. "But Cécilia had a big disappointment with her own foundation, reports an intimate: people did not give money." Reading the documents submitted to the American administration by the Cécilia Attias Foundation for Women for the years 2009 to 2012 shows, in fact, that the main donors are… the Attias themselves, for several hundred thousand euros. The other contributions, which date back to 2010, come from private individuals from the New York business elite, to the tune of 5,000 to 10,000 dollars. The foundation's website gives no indication of its humanitarian activity for two years. For 2012, the latest known figures, the tax returns indicate that only three associations have benefited from the financial support of the former Mrs. Sarkozy: Hour Children (aid for children born in prison) for 3,000 dollars, Arc-en-ciel (aid for children from Gabon) and Entrepreneurs du Monde (microcredit), for $5,000 each. The bulk of the expenses, ie 247,819 euros, concerned the organization of the Dialogue for Action day in Libreville, as well as communication expenses, travel and costs for the website. Asked by "Le Nouvel Observateur" about the precise activity of her foundation, Cécilia Attias replied that she operates "in several territories and with several NGOs in different sectors". She adds: "Dialogue for Action is the platform that mobilizes all these associations every two years..."

The open letter of the Indignados Front of Gabon to Laurent Fabius