Press Release | Gütersloh, 11/15/2023

Bertelsmann Appoints Stephan Schmitter to Group Management Committee

• Stephan Schmitter will become CEO of RTL Deutschland and a member of Bertelsmann’s panel of top international executives on January 1, 2024.
• Thomas Rabe: “Stephan Schmitter will provide valuable impetus for Bertelsmann.”

Gütersloh, November 15, 2023 – Bertelsmann is appointing the designated CEO of RTL Deutschland, Stephan Schmitter, to the international media, services, and education group’s Group Management Committee (GMC). Schmitter will join the committee of top international executives, which advises the Bertelsmann Executive Board, upon taking over as CEO of RTL Deutschland on January 1, 2024. Thomas Rabe, Chairman & CEO of Bertelsmann, said: “I warmly welcome Stephan Schmitter to the GMC and look forward to future discussions with him on issues that affect Bertelsmann as a whole. I know and appreciate Stephan from our personal collaboration in the management of RTL Deutschland and am confident that he will provide valuable impetus to the work of the GMC and thus to Bertelsmann as a whole. The GMC is gaining a strong entrepreneur with many years of experience at Bertelsmann.” Stephan Schmitter joined RTL Group in May 2004 as Managing Director of the Berlin radio station 105’5 Spreeradio. In October 2007, he was additionally appointed as Managing Director of 104.6 RTL, the local market leader in Berlin, and RCB Radio Center Berlin, now RTL Radio Center Berlin. In January 2018, Stephan Schmitter was promoted to CEO of RTL Radio Deutschland, and in May 2019 additionally took on the role of Head of Audio at the former Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland (now RTL Deutschland). In September 2020, Stephan Schmitter additionally became one of the Managing Directors of the then infoNetwork before being appointed Managing Director of the newly founded RTL News GmbH in February 2021. When RTL Deutschland and Gruner + Jahr were merged in January 2022, Stephan Schmitter took on the role of Chief Journalistic Content Officer of RTL Deutschland. In November 2022, he was appointed to the company’s Management Board. As Managing Director of Programming, he is responsible for all of RTL Deutschland’s content (entertainment, journalistic content, drama, sports, RTL Studios productions) and brands. In June 2023, Schmitter also took over the leadership of the Bertelsmann Content Alliance. As of January 1, 2024, Bertelsmann’s Group Management Committee will therefore comprise the following members:

• Thomas Rabe, Chairman & CEO of Bertelsmann and CEO of RTL Group
• Jan Altersten, Chief Executive Officer of Riverty
• Núria Cabutí, CEO of Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial
• Carsten Coesfeld, Member of the Bertelsmann Executive Board, Investments and Financial Solutions, and Chief Executive Officer of Bertelsmann Investments
• Thomas Coesfeld, Chief Executive Officer of BMG
• Matthias Dang, Chief Commercial, Technology and Data Officer of RTL Deutschland
• Elmar Heggen, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of RTL Group
• Rolf Hellermann, Chief Financial Officer of Bertelsmann
• Immanuel Hermreck, Chief Human Resources Officer of Bertelsmann
• Dirk Kemmerer, Chief Executive Officer of Bertelsmann Marketing Services
• Kay Krafft, Chief Executive Officer of Bertelsmann Education Group
• Annabelle Yu Long, Managing Partner of Bertelsmann Asia Investments
• Nihar Malaviya, Chief Executive Officer of Penguin Random House
• Shobhna Mohn, Chief Strategy Officer of Bertelsmann Investments
• Jennifer Mullin, Chief Executive Officer of Fremantle
• Gail Rebuck, Group Creative Coordinator
• Frank Schirrmeister, Chief Executive Officer of Arvato
• Karin Schlautmann, Executive Vice President Corporate Communications of Bertelsmann
• Stephan Schmitter, Chief Executive Officer of RTL Deutschland
• Nicolas de Tavernost, Chairman of the Executive Board of Groupe M6

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company with 85.000 employees, that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the entertainment group RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato Group, Bertelsmann Marketing Services, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company generated revenues of €20.2 billion in the 2022 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world. Bertelsmann aspires to achieve climate neutrality by 2030.