Founded on 28 February 2011 amid much media attention,[1][2][3][4][5] it quickly attracted notice for scoops related to scandals involving the Socialist politician and International Monetary Fund head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
[1][2] It characterises its editorial position as "[classical] liberal and independent",[2][3] while other French media have associated it with the right wing of the French political spectrum,[1][3][6] a label rejected by Atlantico.
[2][5] 51% of Atlantico's stock of one million euro[5] is held by its founders, the journalists Jean-Sébastien Ferjou [fr], Pierre Guyot [fr], Loïc Rouvin and Igor Daguier; and the remaining 49% by "Free Minds", a group of investors that includes Arnaud Dassier, a former campaign adviser to President Nicolas Sarkozy.
[1] Its staff of about ten journalists also includes Gilles Klein, Anita Hausser, Christian de Villeneuve and Yves Derai.
[5] Among its regular contributors are the writers Chantal Delsol, Paul-Marie Coûteaux, Gérard de Villiers, Guy Sorman and Tristane Banon.