depicting other religious figures sitting on a cloud with the caption reading, "Don't worry Muhammad, we've all been caricatured here". Acquisition by Jean-Pierre Brunois and Olivier Rey In April 2006, the Tribunal of Commerce in Lille announced that the paper would become the property of Jean-Pierre Brunois, a real-estate developer, and Olivier Rey, a former journalist for the paper. The tribunal had been overseeing the bankruptcy and bids for take over since October 2005, at which point the circulation had dropped to around 50,000. The decision lead to strike by the staff who were displeased with Brunois' plan to cut costs by firing many, and increase circulation by turning the paper into a tabloid. One of the opposing bids, favored by the staff, was from Arkadi Gaydamak, the owner of The Moscow News, who had promised not to fire the staff. Due to the turbulence, France Soir was not published for a month and a half. Brunois brought in bi-lingual British photographer Jason Fraser to lead the tabloid remodelling of the paper. Pugachyov ownership In March 2010, France Soir was acquired by Alexander Pugachyov, son of Russian ex-billionaire Sergey Pugachyov. The paper was relaunched in 2010, but its last print issue appeared on 13 December 2011, with the online version ending in July 2012 with the court-ordered bankruptcy of the company. During the liquidation process, the name France-Soir was then bought by the group Mutualize Corporation SA. which relaunched the newspaper as a 100% online media with an innovative strategy. Mutualize Corporation Mutualize Corporation SA. relaunched the newspaper as a 100% online media with an innovative strategy in 2016 reaching peak audience in 2018. In August 2019, site staff (4 employees) went on strike, and were eventually fired, but the website kept publishing content. Publishing of conspiracy theories The site has been criticised since 2019 for publishing false information and spreading conspiracy theories Notable contributors France-Soir had many contributors, journalists and writers, among them Joseph Kessel, Lucien Bodard, Jean-Paul Sartre, Henri de Turenne, Henri Amouroux, Jean Lacouture, Philippe Labro, Philippe Bouvard, Jacqueline Cartier, Max Gallo, Roger Grenier, Jean Dutourd, Gonzague Saint Bris, Jacques Sternberg and Jean-Pierre Thiollet. References 1944 establishments in France 2011 disestablishments in France Defunct newspapers published in France French news websites Newspapers published in Paris Publications established in 1944 Publications disestablished in 2011 Daily newspapers published in France