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Oct 10 – Oct 16, 2011 Edition Bertelsmann Names Thomas Rabe Chairman & CEO
Gütersloh/Authorlink News/ October 10, 2011 The Supervisory Board of Bertelsmann AG,which owns Random House in the USA, has appointed Thomas Rabe (46), currently Chief Financial Officer of the Group, as its future Chairman & CEO. He will succeed the current Chairman & CEO Hartmut Ostrowski (53) on January 1, 2012.
Ostrowski is resigning from the Executive Board for personal reasons and will be moving to theSupervisory Board. The changeover takes place amicably and by mutual consent.
Hartmut Ostrowski joined Bertelsmann AG in 1982 and has worked for the company in variousfunctions ever since, with only a brief interruption. In 2002, when he became CEO of Arvato AG,he also took a seat on the Bertelsmann Executive Board, and was appointed its Chairman onJanuary 1, 2008. His achievements include expanding Arvato AG into an international servicescompany; successfully steering Bertelsmann through the economic crisis; and paying down thedebt to the target level.
The shareholders and Supervisory Board of Bertelsmann AG paid tribute toHartmut Ostrowskis many years of contributing to the companys success. Gunter Thielen,Chairman of the Supervisory Board, says: Bertelsmann owes Hartmut Ostrowski a great debtof gratitude. He led the company in difficult times. I look forward to continuing to work with himon the Supervisory Board. The timing of the changeover ensures that the passing of the batonto Thomas Rabe will be handled smoothly.
Thomas Rabe has served as Chief Financial Officer and Head of the Corporate Center atBertelsmann AG since January 1, 2006. Prior to this, he had held the same position atRTL Group in Luxembourg since 2000. In addition to his duties as Chief Financial Officer, Rabeis also responsible for the Corporate Investments growth initiatives, which include the holding inthe music rights company BMG, and the Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) andBertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI) funds. His successor as Chief Financial Officer will beappointed at a later date.
Thielen adds: The shareholders and Supervisory Board wish Thomas Rabe the best ofsuccess in his new role. We are sure that in him, we have an entrepreneur at the top who willlend further momentum to Bertelsmanns growth strategy and future development.
About Bertelsmann AG
Bertelsmann is an international media company whose core divisions encompass television (RTL Group),book publishing (Random House), magazine publishing (Gruner + Jahr), and outsourcing services(Arvato) in 50 countries. In 2010, the companys businesses, with their 100,000 employees, generatedrevenues of 15.8 billion. Bertelsmann stands for a distinctive combination of creativity andentrepreneurship that empowers the creation of first-rate media, communications, and service offerings toinspire people around the world and to provide innovative solutions for customers.
