Free Republic

LONDON, July 1 — The pressure on Jean-Marie Messier to resign as the chief executive of Vivendi Universal intensified over the weekend, after two French directors asked him to step down, a person close to the board said today. The two directors, Jacques Friedmann, who is also a director of BNP Paribas, the large French bank that is among Vivendi's lenders and Henry Lachman, the chief executive of Schneider Electric, were speaking on behalf of Vivendi's five other French directors, this person said. Mr. Messier, he continued, had lost virtually all support among the 14 non-executive directors, making his resignation...