On this day, October 20 in the year 1963, one of the richest entrepreneurs in the telecommunications industry was born in Casablanca, Morocco. His name is Patrick Drahi, the founder of the Netherlands-based telecom group Altice. According to forbes.com, his net worth is $11.5 billion as of October 2020.

Patrick Drahi was the son of mathematics teachers. At age 15, the family immigrated to France where he earned his engineering degree at the premier French engineering school, Ecole Polytechnique and a master’s degree in optics and electronics from Ecole Nationale Superieure de Telecommuncations de Paris. He went to work for Philips Group as head of international marketing for satellite and cable TV. In a hurry to be his own boss, he left Philips and set up a consulting firm specializing in telecommunications and media. In 1995, he established Mediareseaux, a cable company in France which he sold four years later to a US-based UPC.

In 2002, Patrick Drahi founded Altice which he used as his vehicle to create a multinational company with interests in cable and mobile telecommunications. Soon he acquired stakes in companies in Belgium, Mauritius, Israel, Portugal, and the Dominican Republic. In 2013, he purchased Numbericable, the largest cable operator in France. That same year, he set up the international news channel i24news. In 2014, he raised more than $1.8 billion when Altice was listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.

Patrick Drahi was determined to build a formidable presence worldwide for Altice. He entered U.S. market, buying Cablevision for $17.7 billion in 2015. He also acquired a 70% stake in Suddenlink communications, the 7th largest cable operator in the United States. In June 21, 2017, Altice USA raised $1.9 in an initial public offering.
Patrick has 4 children with his wife Lina.

References
http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-patrick-drahi-the-little-known-french-billionaire-whos-buying-up-telecom-everywhere-2017-8
https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/patrick-drahi/
https://www.forbes.com/profile/patrick-drahi/