Bertelsmann family member Thomas Coesfeld pips brother to top role

(Reuters) -Bertelsmann has appointed family member Thomas Coesfeld as its new chief executive from Jan. 1, 2027, the company said on Thursday, ending speculation over whether he or his brother would take the top role.

Coesfeld, 35, is the grandson of company patriarch Reinhard Mohn. He will be the first head of the company appointed from within the family since 1981 when he replaces Thomas Rabe, who will step down after 15 years. Coesfeld is currently boss of the company's music business, BMG, a role he has held since 2023.

The appointment brings to an end months of industry chatter about whether Coesfeld or his older brother, Carsten Coesfeld, would take on the CEO role, or whether they would jointly take the top spot. Rabe announced his planned departure in March 2024.

Both brothers have been part of the executive board of Bertelsmann, whose businesses also include Penguin Random House, since 2024.

"Over the past ten years at Bertelsmann, I have come to know Thomas Coesfeld as an entrepreneurial manager," said Christoph Mohn, chairman of Bertelsmann's supervisory board. 

"He has taken the BMG music business to a significantly higher level of revenue and earnings in recent years and aligned it even more consistently with the streaming era," Mohn added.

SCHWEBIG TO BECOME CEO OF RTL GROUP

As part of a broader revamp, the company also said that Clément Schwebig will join the Bertelsmann executive board next May as the future CEO of RTL Group.

Schwebig, 48, will also be replacing Rabe, who became CEO of RTL in 2019.

Schwebig previously worked for RTL from 2002 until 2013, before moving to positions in Asia for Time Warner/Turner and Warner Bros Discovery. He most recently held the role of president & managing director at Warner Bros Discovery's western Europe & Africa business.

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer, Writing by Bernadette Hogg; Editing by Matt Scuffham)