Challenges was established in 1982.[3] The magazine offers articles on economy and business-related events and on politics and world affairs.[3][4] It is published weekly on Thursdays.[5][6][7] Previously, it was published monthly[8] and then biweekly.[1]
Its motto is Que dit l'économie cette semaine? (French: What does the economy say this week?).[5]
In 1987, Claude Perdriel, owner of Le Nouvel Observateur, bought the monthly magazine and renamed it as Challenges.[9]
Le Nouvel Observateur Group is the owner and publisher of Challenges.[3][10] The company also owns Le Nouvel Observateur.[3] Former publisher of Challenges was Croque Futur.[8] The magazine is published by Regie OBS.[7]
Challenges was named as the business magazine of the year in France in 2010.[6]
In May 2021, LVMH, headed by Bernard Arnault, took a 40% stake in the magazine, contributing 8 million euros.[11]
In 2017, as part of the French presidential campaign, several Challenges journalists felt and deplored the fact that their magazine was "rolling for Emmanuel Macron ".[2][12]
Just before the first round of legislative elections in 2022, an anti-Jean-Luc Mélenchon cover for the magazine imposed by the publication's director, Claude Perdriel, was denounced by the magazine's journalists.[13]
In 2001 Challenges had a circulation of 264,000 copies.[8] The circulation of the magazine was 260,020 copies in 2008.[4] It fell to 250,065 copies in 2009[3] and 232,000 copies in 2010.[14] During the period of 2011-2012 its circulation was 232,430 copies.[7] The circulation of the magazine was 183,233 copies in 2020.[15]
