Voltaire, the Entrepreneur - by Ivo Velitchkov

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Voltaire, the Entrepreneur<br>How Voltaire, at the age of 76 created a successful watchmaking enterprise

Ivo Velitchkov<br>Feb 06, 2026

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Voltaire is often listed among the leading Enlightenment thinkers, alongside Montesquieu and Locke. Or he is mentioned among famous playwrights, such as Molière and Racine. But it’s unlikely to see Voltaire listed among successful entrepreneurs.<br>Yet at 76, he founded a startup and turned it into a successful international business.<br>Link & Think is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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Background

Voltaire wasn’t planning to start a business, nor did he need to. His interests were in writing, theatre, and political causes such as penal reform. He had plenty of revenue streams;1 he didn’t need another. However, his experience in financial management and the circumstances under which the idea was born might make the endeavour less surprising than it first appears.<br>Prior investment experience

In 1729, with the help of his friend, the mathematician Charles Marie de la Condamine, Voltaire took advantage of a loophole in the state lottery system. The prize value was miscalculated, so it was much higher than the total price of the lottery tickets. Winners also had other benefits. If they held government bonds that were devalued at that time, they could be repaid at the original issue price. According to some estimates, Voltaire earned half a million livres from this chicanery.<br>Another successful financial operation that year was the speculation with shares issued by the duc de Lorraine. Since these particular shares can only be purchased by the citizens of Lorraine, Voltaire had to prove some lineage. His perseverance made up for the far-fetchedness of his proof. In a letter of September 1729, Voltaire wrote:<br>After my pressing requests, they let me subscribe for fifty shares, which were delivered to me a week later. I immediately took advantage of the popularity of these new shares, and tripled my money.

These two cases were followed by others.<br>Apart from speculative and business investments (e.g., he invested in a company that supplied the military), much of his steady income came from lending money at interest.<br>Other startups

The watchmaking wasn’t Voltaire's first manufacturing startup. A few years previously, he set up a small silk business. Since he was previously engaged in agriculture, literally cultivating his garden, a statement he famously ended Candide with, it seems he just moved to the adjacent possible. While he did so more out of a need for something to cheer him up (at that time, he separated from his niece for the first time in sixteen years) than out of necessity, his silk business, as the subsequent watchmaking, shows his affinity for vertical integration. Voltaire’s silk business started with raising silkworms, but did not stop at producing silk. He also produced silk stockings.<br>Circumstances

When Voltaire fell out of favour with the French court, he bought an estate at Ferney, on the French-Swiss border, not far from Geneva.<br>In eighteenth-century Geneva, power was held by patrician families. Ordinary citizens and artisans (natifs) had limited rights. This situation caused numerous conflicts and escalated in the 1760s. French intervention and a military blockade in 1767 temporarily resolved the issue. But the patricians later rescinded the agreement, leading to a wave of violence in early 1770.<br>At that time, Voltaire initiated the transformation of a nearby fishing village, Versoix, into a trading port to reduce his dependence on Geneva for his supplies. Such a project could also benefit France, for which he convinced the French Prime Minister, Duc de Choiseul, who promised to support it financially.<br>Voltaire believed that dissatisfied natifs would be willing to move there and build a life away from their oppressors in Geneva. And indeed, quite a few were ready to move, which further angered the Genevan patricians, who were already worried that their local trading and political dominance would be challenged by a new French trading port.<br>In the meantime, some protesters fled Geneva and were given French residence permits. Since they couldn’t move to Versoix — the project town was not yet built — many settled in Ferney and its surroundings.<br>It so happened that the French government was facing financial difficulties and couldn’t begin the promised investment in Versoix.<br>Voltaire realised that many of the emigrants were skilled craftsmen. So, while waiting for the Versoix to be built, he can help them start a business as independent watchmakers.<br>Watchmaking Business

That’s how the Ferney startup took off as something between a social enterprise and a business incubator.<br>Quick facts:<br>Craftsmen: from 40 in 1770 to 600 in 1773

Revenue: from 450K (1775) to 600K (1776) livres

Markets:...