Press Release | Gütersloh, 11/21/2018

Anke Schäferkordt Resigns from Bertelsmann Executive Board

Anke Schäferkordt, member of the Bertelsmann Executive Board and CEO of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, will be resigning from the Executive Board of the international media, services, and education company with effect from the end of the year by mutual agreement and on the best of terms. The step follows the joint decision by RTL Group and Anke Schäferkordt not to renew the contract as CEO of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. The periods of Anke Schäferkordt’s contracts as CEO of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland and as a member of Bertelsmann’s Executive Board are identical. The Supervisory Board will decide on Anke Schäferkordt’s successor on the Bertelsmann Executive Board in due course.

Christoph Mohn, Chairman of the Bertelsmann Supervisory Board, said: “Anke Schäferkordt has done a tremendous job for Bertelsmann for 30 years, and is a truly outstanding TV manager who combines creativity and entrepreneurship in her work. Under her leadership, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland developed into the most successful private television group in Germany. I very much regret her departure and would like to thank her, on behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, for her exceptional accomplishments. We wish her all the best for the future.”

Bertelsmann Chairman & CEO Thomas Rabe stated: “Over the years, Anke Schäferkordt has significantly strengthened the core business of our largest division, RTL Group, and advanced the digital transformation of our TV business. With her entrepreneurial vision, she has laid an excellent foundation for the further growth of our TV business in the future. On behalf of the entire Executive Board, I would like to thank Anke Schäferkordt for her outstanding achievement.”

Anke Schäferkordt, born in 1962, holds a degree in business administration. She started her career at Bertelsmann in 1988. Three years later, she moved to RTL Plus (now RTL Television) in Cologne, where she took over the Controlling department in 1992. From 1993 to 1995 she was a Director in charge of the Corporate Planning and Controlling division at RTL Television. In 1995, she joined the TV broadcaster Vox as Chief Financial Officer. From 1997 to 1999, she served as Program Director in addition to her duties as CFO, and from 1999 until 2005, she was CEO of the channel. In February 2005, Anke Schäferkordt was appointed Chief Operating Officer and Deputy CEO of RTL Television, before taking the helm of the flagship channel as CEO in September 2005, which also meant taking on the overall responsibility for the German family of channels, which has done business as Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland since November 2007. From April 2012 to April 2017, she additionally served as Co-CEO of RTL Group. She has also been a member of the Bertelsmann Executive Board since April 2012.

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato, the Bertelsmann Printing Group, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company has 119,000 employees and generated revenues of €17.2 billion in the 2017 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for entrepreneurship and creativity. This combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world.