France is still very much an aristocracy.

Niel did not come from the traditional path of the elites (Polytechnique Paris, Centrale, etc.).

He was self taught, and god forbid, earned money through minitel porn. The aristocracy considers him, well, gross.

I don't think that's the main motive for his creating 42, but he does have a very strong anti-Grandes Écoles bias.

The personal history of the founders totally supports this narrative.

Their CVs should be findable on the public internet.

his grisp against big french institutions is very real and documented. Look at how he started his company Free, telling people that if they stayed at the big telecom companies they were "pigeon".