Alexandre Mars

Alexandre Mars (born December 9, 1974) is a French entrepreneur, philanthropist and author.[1]

Alexandre Mars
Alexandre Mars in 2016
Born (1974-12-09) 9 December 1974
Boulogne-Billancourt, France
NationalityFrench
EducationParis Nanterre University
Paris Dauphine University
OccupationEntrepreneur
Board member of the 2024 Summer Olympics

Early life

Born in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, Mars’s parents divorced when he was three years old. Growing up, he lived with his mother and made frequent visits to the United States. He attended Florent Schmitt high school in Saint-Cloud, began his post-secondary education at Paris Nanterre University, and went on to study at Paris Dauphine University and HEC School of Management. Mars’s entrepreneurial and philanthropic career was influenced by his French-American upbringing.

Entrepreneurship

In 1992, at the age of 17 and while still in high school, Alexandre Mars started his first venture, specialized in concert organization.[2] The money he earned allowed him to launch A2X,[3] one of the first French web agencies, along with a friend when he was 22. He sold the company in 1998 and launched his venture capital firm.

In 2002, Mars created Phonevalley, a mobile advertising and marketing agency that he sold to Publicis in 2007.[4]

In 2006, he started ScrOOn, a platform specialized in social media that he sold to Blackberry in 2013.[2]

Philanthropic activities

Alexandre Mars is a staunch proponent of sharing and giving, both for individuals as well as businesses.

In 2014, he created the non-profit Epic Foundation, which selects and funds organizations that fight childhood and youth inequality in areas like education, health, safety and social and professional reinsertion.[2][5] The foundation develops giving solutions for companies and individuals. Its operational costs are entirely financed by Mars to the amount of more than $2 million annually, thanks to the revenues generated by his venture capital firm blisce/, which invests in startups like Spotify and Pinterest.[6]

Epic raised more than $19 million between 2015 and 2018. Its portfolio includes twenty-eight NGOs and charitable organizations that specialize in helping children and young adults. These organizations work on diverse topics such as professional integration through sports, training for the digital job market and homelessness in the LGBT community.

By way of Epic and his regular public appearances, Alexandre Mars makes the case for a more just society. He advocates for donation solutions such as payroll giving, transactional giving and the sharing pledge, which offers companies and individuals the opportunity to donate a portion of their sales, profits, stocks or capital gains (1% or more) to causes supported by the foundation. Pledgers include Alex Chung, Co-Founder and CEO of Giphy; Andre Haddad, Founder & CEO of Turo; and Chieh Huang, CEO of Boxed; as well as investment firms.

Awards and honors

In 2015, Alexandre Mars was named among the “Top 20 Philanthropists Under 40” by The New York Observer.[1]

As President of the Commission for Sports and Society during Paris’s olympic bid, Alexandre Mars was chosen in 2018 by Tony Estanguet, head of the 2024 Olympics & Paralympic Games, to serve as a board member and ambassador.[5]

In 2018, Mars was named one of “The 50 Most Influential French People” by Vanity Fair. In 2019, he was named among Town & Country’s “Top 50 Philanthropists of The Year”.

In 2019, he was named a Knight of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest civilian award order.

Personal information

Alexandre Mars is married and has four children.

Notable works
  • Giving: Purpose is the New Currency, HarperOne/HarperCollins, 2019[7]
  • La Révolution du partage, Flammarion, 2018[8]

References
  1. Staff (April 1, 2015). "The Top 20 Philanthropists Under 40". The New York Observer. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  2. Murray, Sarah (June 4, 2015). "Alexandre Mars: High-tech philanthropist looks to tap the wealth of entrepreneurs". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  3. Patrelle, Jérémy (4 May 2016). "Alexandre Mars, le smart philanthrope français". GQ Magazine. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  4. Aditham, Kiram (October 18, 2013) "Alexandre Mars Out at Publicis?" AgencySpy
  5. Salman, Saba (November 29, 2016). "Interview: Alexandre Mars: States don't have the money to do good. Business does". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  6. Ha, Anthony (April 28, 2016). "Apps: charity donations Epic Foundation's new app helps donors understand where their money is going". Techcrunch. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  7. Mars, Alexandre (31 December 2018). Giving : purpose is the new currency (First ed.). New York, NY. ISBN 9780062912404. OCLC 1049795666.
  8. Mars, Alexandre. (2018). La révolution du partage. Paris: Flammarion. ISBN 9782081439474. OCLC 1038706211.
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