The first issue of Le Monde appeared on the 18th of December 1944, though it bore the date the 19th of December 1944. Hubert Beuve-Méry founded the limited liability company that same month with a capital of 200,000 francs divided into 200 shares.
Hubert Beuve-Méry founded the limited liability company for Le Monde in December 1944 with a capital of 200,000 francs divided into 200 shares. General de Gaulle had tasked Minister Pierre-Henri Teitgen with finding a director for this new publication before the founding occurred.
Le Monde operated from 5 Rue des Italiens in Paris for 44 years after inheriting the premises and equipment of its predecessor Le Temps. The location served as home to the paper until the group moved following its long tenure at that address.
A 2010 academic study characterized the editorial stance of Le Monde as center-left while an Ifop survey from April 2022 showed 48% of regular voters supported left-wing candidates in the 2012 presidential election. During the 1981 election, Le Monde openly supported François Mitterrand which cost the paper significant readership afterward.
LeMonde.fr launched its online presence on the 19th of December 1995 exactly 51 years after the first print issue. By October 2023, the paper had 592,000 subscribers including 517,000 digital-only accounts.