A Billionaire's Secret Emails to Reporter Aren't Off Limits
- French investigators accessed emails journalist sent to source
- Another reporter’s phone records reviewed in a case last year
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A probe into the leak of a confidential $15 billion takeover plan put the spotlight on the aggressive methods used by French investigators, and their growing disregard for the anonymity of journalist’s sources.
On July 23, 2014, French billionaire Xavier Niel, the founder of phone company Iliad SA, was busy putting the final touches on one of the most daring takeover offers in years when he received an email from a journalist he knew well. Five years later, parts of the private exchange with the Wall Street Journal reporter were made public by France’s markets regulator.