3:53 pm - February 11, 2026
Le Monde Group celebrated its 80th anniversary with record-breaking subscription figures that signal growing public appetite for trusted journalism.
In an article published this week, the group’s CEO Louis Dreyfus and his fellow director Jérôme Fenoglio, highlighted that daily paid circulation is now the highest in its history, at above 530,000 copies, and well beyond the 1978 peak of 440,000 reached during a moment of intense political engagement in France.
This growth has been driven by a clear focus on building digital subscriptions. Revenue from digital readers is now so substantial that it is expected to cover the full cost of the newsroom within two years, a milestone that few publishers have reached.
The group generated €309.5 million in total revenue last year, with an EBITDA of €26.2 million and net income before taxes of €10.6 million. These results reflect a sustainable model built around reader revenue rather than an overreliance on advertising.
Editorially, the group has remained committed to its core principles: independent reporting, attention to major national and international events and a continuing investment in investigative journalism. Two of its reporters, Lorraine de Foucher and Martin Untersinger, won the prestigious 2024 Albert Londres Prize, a reminder of the newsroom’s growing influence and ambition, which has been matched by a near doubling of staff over the past decade.
Le Monde has also embraced technological and commercial innovation. It became the first French publisher to sign a deal with OpenAI, ensuring that its journalism can be used within AI tools on agreed terms. A subsequent agreement with Perplexity, a fast-growing AI-powered search engine, extended this approach to content licensing, with the added benefit of boosting the distribution of Le Monde’s work to new audiences.
Other ventures – including a major public event, the Le Goût de M festival, which drew more than 5,000 attendees – have helped the group maintain a visible cultural presence. Meanwhile, its advertising business M Publicité weathered a weak market with only a 3% decline, partly due to strategic alignment with digital channels and major sponsorship opportunities around the 2024 Olympic Games.
Le Monde’s transformation over the past year is notable not just for its financial performance, but for the clarity of its editorial and commercial strategy. It is one of the few legacy publishers in Europe to have fully embraced a future where subscriptions drive growth and where the value of journalism is recognised directly by its readers.
Source: Noah Wire Services
- https://www.lemonde.fr/en/media/article/2025/06/09/le-monde-group-s-2024-accounts-mark-a-landmark-year_6742164_22.html – Please view link – unable to able to access data
- https://www.lemonde.fr/en/media/article/2025/06/09/le-monde-group-s-2024-accounts-mark-a-landmark-year_6742164_22.html – In 2024, marking Le Monde’s 80th anniversary, the group achieved record-breaking subscriber numbers, with daily paid circulation surpassing 530,000 copies, exceeding the previous peak of 440,000 in 1978. This growth is attributed to the newspaper’s commitment to journalistic independence, comprehensive coverage of major events, and investigative reporting. The group also received significant awards, including two Albert Londres Prizes for journalists Lorraine de Foucher and Martin Untersinger, and two ACPM stars recognising the largest increase in paid circulation and sustained success since 2020. Additionally, Le Monde launched the ‘Le Goût de M’ festival, attracting over 5,000 attendees, and diversified its editorial production with plans for a book, graphic novel, and documentary based on a series of articles by Philippe Broussard. Despite challenges in the advertising market, the group’s advertising division, M Publicité, managed to limit its decline to 3% by focusing on digital revenue growth and special projects linked to the Olympic Games. In March 2024, Le Monde signed a partnership agreement with OpenAI, becoming the only French media group among about 15 global groups to do so, governing OpenAI’s use of its content while protecting the rights of publishers and copyright holders. This partnership, along with others like the one with Perplexity in May 2025, contributed to the group’s revenue growth and 2024 results, with revenue of €309.5 million, EBITDA of €26.2 million, and net income before tax of €10.6 million.
- https://www.reuters.com/technology/frances-le-monde-enters-into-content-partnership-with-ai-startup-perplexity-2025-05-14/ – On May 14, 2025, Le Monde announced a content partnership with U.S.-based AI startup Perplexity. The collaboration allows Perplexity to access Le Monde’s content to enhance its AI-powered search engine responses. In return, Le Monde will utilise Perplexity’s technology, supported by Nvidia, to develop new AI-driven products. This partnership aims to help Le Monde expand its audience, enhance development capabilities, and create new revenue streams. Perplexity has secured similar agreements with over a dozen media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times and the Independent, sharing advertising revenue with content providers featured in AI-generated responses. This deal comes amid a wider industry trend where AI firms face legal challenges from media groups accusing them of unauthorised use of copyrighted content for AI training.
- https://www.lemonde.fr/en/about-us/article/2024/03/13/le-monde-signs-artificial-intelligence-partnership-agreement-with-open-ai_6615418_115.html – In March 2024, Le Monde signed a partnership agreement with OpenAI, becoming the first French media organisation to do so. This agreement governs OpenAI’s use of Le Monde’s content while protecting the rights of publishers and copyright holders. The partnership aims to put the computing power of artificial intelligence at the service of journalism, facilitating data work, translations, and audio versions to expand readership. Le Monde has also adopted a charter on artificial intelligence, stating that generative AI cannot be used to produce editorial content ex-nihilo and cannot replace editorial teams. The agreement with OpenAI is seen as a step towards protecting Le Monde’s work and rights in the face of the AI revolution, setting a precedent for the industry.
- https://pressgazette.co.uk/paywalls/le-monde-subscriptions-digital-ceo-louis-dreyfus/ – Le Monde’s digital subscriber revenue is expected to cover the costs of its entire editorial staff within the next two years, according to CEO Louis Dreyfus. The French daily newspaper ended 2024 with 660,000 subscribers, of which 580,000 were digital. Dreyfus stated that when he joined Le Monde 14 years ago, it had 310 staff journalists, and today it has more than 560. He also mentioned that 77% of Le Monde’s revenues now come from paying readers, with more than half of the total from subscriptions. Le Monde has been profitable for the past nine years, and Dreyfus highlighted the importance of investing in staff to produce quality and exclusive content that readers are willing to pay for.
- https://theaudiencers.com/from-e10m-in-losses-to-e25m-in-ebitda-how-le-monde-built-a-sustainable-model/ – Since 2010, under CEO Louis Dreyfus, Le Monde has transformed from €10 million in losses to €25 million in EBITDA by focusing on high-quality journalism and digital subscriptions. Key strategies include expanding editorial coverage to attract new readerships, launching thematic supplements and the weekly magazine M, investing in new editorial verticals like ‘Intimités’ and African coverage, and developing three distinct app products to match mobile-first habits. In 2024, Le Monde achieved a 10% growth in digital subscriptions and an average monthly revenue per subscriber of €11.84. Within two years, digital revenues are expected to cover the entire newsroom costs, demonstrating a virtuous cycle where more subscribers lead to more resources for quality journalism.
- https://tomorrowspublisher.today/editing-tools/le-monde-highlights-the-impact-of-ai-on-journalism-on-its-80th-birthday/ – Le Monde has highlighted the impact of AI on journalism as it celebrates its 80th birthday. The newspaper has integrated AI technologies, such as DeepL’s translation services and Microsoft’s neural voice system for audio versions of articles, to streamline operations and enhance content delivery. In March 2023, Le Monde entered into a partnership with OpenAI to leverage content reliability in AI-generated responses. However, the use of AI is approached with caution, with guidelines developed to ensure ethical considerations remain at the forefront of its operations. Financially, Le Monde received €2.3 million in subsidies in 2023, constituting just over 1% of total sales recorded that year, supplementing operational costs while pursuing diverse revenue avenues like subscriptions and advertising.
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