Collaborations - La nouvelle enquête de Laurent Mauduit: Enquête sur l'extrême droite et les milieux d'affaires (Cahiers libres)

The far right is on the verge of seizing power, and French business leaders, far from opposing this outcome, are preparing to collaborate with them. This unprecedented investigation explores these ideological and financial alliances and how certain business circles—from the upper echelons of the CAC 40 to small and medium-sized enterprises—are working toward, or enthusiastically embracing, the rise of an increasingly authoritarian and ultraliberal power.

For several years now, a segment of the French economic elite has been forging ties with the far right, sometimes even openly joining its ranks. Since the dissolution of the National Assembly in June 2024, this movement has accelerated: business leaders, both large and small, are abandoning the "republican bulwark" and preparing to collaborate with the National Rally (RN) and its allies. Laurent Mauduit sheds light on these alliances, which, discreet until recently, are now increasingly openly acknowledged. Behind-the-scenes meetings, alliances of interest, fascination with the authoritarian and libertarian capitalism promoted by Trump, Musk or Milei... The author deciphers this worrying dynamic where business circles find in the far right an opportunity to impose their agenda.

While the positions of Bernard Arnault, Charles Beigbeder, Vincent Bolloré, and Pierre-Édouard Stérin are now public, many other, more discreet business leaders, driven by purely mercantile interests, are following suit and actively participating in the rise of a racist and freedom-suppressing political project.

In this groundbreaking investigation, Laurent Mauduit takes us from the plush salons of western Paris, where the top executives move about, to provincial SMEs, revealing an ongoing process that echoes the darkest hours of our history. How can we not think, as the author demonstrates, of the 1930s, when business leaders already played a major role in the rise to power of fascist and Nazi regimes? Today, as capitalism undergoes a prolonged crisis, the business world is once again fully engaged in the rise of the far right.