In France, New Tech Academy Defies Conventional Wisdom

By Scott Sayare. In a nation of schools typically christened with sensible acronyms or the names of dead Frenchmen, “42” seems an odd title for an institution of higher learning. But then, Xavier Niel’s new technology academy hardly aims to be conventional. 
Mr. Niel, an affable, longhaired telecommunications executive with a high school diploma and several billion euros to his name, has spent the past decade gleefully disrupting France’s staid corporate establishment. With 42, he means to do the same, in a small but conspicuous way, to higher education in France. Programming classes start this month. More...