Meet the French Billionaire Who Wants to Rule U.S. Cable

Patrick Drahi is betting billions that he can thrive where a succession of fellow French tycoons have flopped: the United States.

Drahi’s Altice SA is buying 70 percent of Suddenlink Communications in a deal that values the cable carrier at $9 billion. And that’s just a start. Altice has indicated it sees Suddenlink, with operations across the south and southwest, as a beachhead for further acquisitions in the U.S. And Drahi is said to have approached Time Warner Cable Inc. about a potential tie-up.