“Billionaire Brawls: Why a £8 Billion Tycoon Challenged a Local to an Epic Showdown at Lidl!”

Remember those days when plans for a schoolyard tussle went down like, “Meet me at the flagpole after the bell” or “See you by the swings!”? It’s a rite of passage for many kids, a time when conflicts were dealt with face-to-face… and often with far less than dignity! Fast forward to today, and we’ve got an £8 billion billionaire, Xavier Niel, who took a similar approach—not for a playful scuffle, but for a full-on challenge to a disgruntled gamer. Picture this: the founder and majority shareholder of a French telecom giant showing up at a Lidl in Marseille, shouting for a showdown after a customer blamed him for their laggy internet ruining a session of Call of Duty. Talk about taking social media banter to the next level! Curious to see how this unusual episode unfolded? LEARN MORE.

“Meet me at the flagpole after the final bell goes,” “I’ll see you next to the bandstand at the park on lunch,” “Fight on the corner at 3pm”… plenty of us saw these kinds of messages flying around BBM and Snapchat when we were at school.

You know, as kids. School children fight arrangements. Not the kind of arrangements that tend to get sent by adults.

And yet this bloke worth £8 billion turned up at Lidl waiting for a ‘one on one’ fight after being called out online over a video game.

Xavier Niel is the founder and majority shareholder of the French Internet service provider, the Free telecoms group.

Xavier Niel is one of the richest men in France (JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images)

The French billionaire was hit with backlash when a disgruntled customer slammed his service, claiming the slow internet speed had ruined his game of Call of Duty.

I mean, we’ve all been there haven’t we – whether it be the film you’re watching or game you’re playing, there’s nothing more annoying than a sh**ty internet connection getting in the way.

So, this guy went straight for the man at the top as he lashed out after his gaming session went wrong.

“Xavier Niel I hate you. I propose a one-v-one in front of the Lidl on Rue Sainte in Marseille,” user Fuego 7 wrote on X back in May.

And on Friday (15 November), Niel decided to follow through and show up at the supermarket.

“I’m here! I’m waiting for you!” he shouted on a video posted to social media, “Where are you, come on! Do you want to meet in the car park?”

The 57-year-old was in Marseille for an AI conference when he decided to head to the shop and post the bizarre video.

But Fuego 7 responded to the post, declining the invite to meet his rival.

“I would have liked to but 34.2 temperature plus stomach ache plus headache sorry I give up,” the user joked.

The bloke was waiting (X/@Xavier75)

And with one of the richest men in French looking for his fighter outside their shop, Lidl’s social media team even got involved.

“Please come and get the gentleman who has been tweeting since this morning in front of the store on Rue Sainte in Marseille,” it posted.

Niel had also shared a selfie of himself outside the store, quoting Fuego 7’s post as he wrote: “I’m waiting for you.”

Well, the great fight that could have been between a gamer and a billionaire on the holy Lidl ground…