MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
November 13 – November 20, 2008 Edition

Ian Hudson
Replaces Sarnoff
On Bertelsmann Board

Gütersloh, (Authorlink News, November 13, 2008)–The Annual General Meeting of Bertelsmann AG earlier this week elected Ian Hudson as a new member of the Bertelsmann Supervisory Board.

Hudson (45) will sit on the Board as the representative of Bertelsmann AG’s management, effective immediately. In this capacity, he succeeds Richard Sarnoff, who had stepped down from the media company’s Supervisory Board in May.

Gunter Thielen, Chairman of the Bertelsmann Supervisory Board, declared: “I very much look forward to working with Ian Hudson. In our past dealings, I have come to know him as a committed and forward-thinking entrepreneur. I therefore believe that Bertelsmann executives all over the world have found in Ian an ideal representative of their interests to the Supervisory Board.”

Ian Hudson joined Random House UK Ltd in 1992 after stints at British Railways and Marshall Cavendish. He started as Deputy Finance Director, and was promoted to Group Commercial Director in 1996. Two years later, the British publishing company came to Bertelsmann as part of the acquisition of the U.S. publishing group Random House. Ian Hudson was appointed Group Managing Director in 1998. The father of three children has served as Deputy Chief Executive Officer Random House UK Ltd since 2005, number-two in the successful British publishing group headed by Chairman & CEO Gail Rebuck. Ian Hudson is also President of the British Publisher’s Association.

The Random House Group is one of Britain’s biggest publishing groups. It is based in London, but also has separate operations in Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa. The group is comprised of 36 imprints.

The Bertelsmann AG Supervisory Board now comprises the following members:

Dr. Gunter Thielen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Bertelsmann Stiftung, Gütersloh (Chairman of the Supervisory Board)
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Strube, Chairman of the BASF SE Supervisory Board, Ludwigshafen; Shareholder of the Bertelsmann Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Gütersloh (Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board)
Dr. Wulf H. Bernotat, Chairman of the Board of Management and Chief Executive Officer, E.ON AG, Düsseldorf
Helmut Gettkant, Member of the Bertelsmann AG Corporate Works Council, Gütersloh
Ian Hudson, Chairman of the Bertelsmann Management Representative Committee (BMRC), and Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Random House UK Ltd., London
Dr. Karl-Ludwig Kley, Chairman of the Executive Board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt
Dr. Hans-Joachim Körber, Chairman of the Executive Board, Metro AG, Düsseldorf until October 31, 2007
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Milberg, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, BMW AG, Munich
Dr. Brigitte Mohn, Chairwoman of the Stiftung Deutsche Schlaganfallhilfe; Member of the Board of the Bertelsmann Stiftung; Shareholder in Bertelsmann Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Gütersloh
Christoph Mohn, Chief Executive Officer, Lycos Europe N.V, Haarlem
Liz Mohn, Vice CEO of the Bertelsmann Stiftung, Vice Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the Bertelsmann Stiftung and Chairwoman of the Board of Bertelsmann Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Gütersloh
Erich Ruppik, Chairman of the Corporate Works Council of Bertelsmann AG, Gütersloh
Lars Rebien Sørensen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novo Nordisk A/S, Bagsvaerd
Reinhard Mohn is Chairman Emeritus of the Supervisory Board.

About Bertelsmann AG
Bertelsmann is an international media company encompassing television (RTL Group), book publishing (Random House), magazine publishing (Gruner + Jahr), media services (Arvato), and media clubs (Direct Group) in more than 50 countries. Bertelsmann’s claim is to inspire people around the world with first-class media and communications offerings – entertainment, information and services – and occupy leading positions in its respective markets. The foundation of Bertelsmann’s success is a corporate culture based on partnership, entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and corporate responsibility. The company strives to bring creative new ideas to market and create value.