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Business News Obituaries
Former Bertelsmann chief dies
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 6 October 2009
Reinhard Mohn, the former CEO of BMG parent company and German media conglom Bertelsmann, has died, aged 88. The company is still owned, of course, by the Mohn family, albeit primarily through a trust set up by Reinhard in the seventies.
The grandson of the company’s founder, Carl Bertelsmann, Reinhard took over running the firm shortly after the second world war and was CEO until 1981. He oversaw the transformation of the company from a book publisher into a media and entertainment giant, including the building up of a significant music empire, initially via the firm’s own Ariola Records, and later through the acquisition of Arista and RCA. Bertelsmann has, of course, more recently backed away from the music business, selling both is record labels and music publishing assets, though has since launched the rather nifty new BMG Music Rights agency.
After stepping down as CEO at the start of the eighties, Mohn stayed on as Chairman of the Bertelsmann board until 1991, and remained Honorary Chairman of the company’s supervisory board up until his death. His wife, Liz Mohn, who has been more vocal on Bertelsmann issues in recent years, remains on that board, as do two of their children, Christoph and Brigitte.
Paying tribute to Reinhard, current Bertelsmann top man Hartmut Ostrowski told reporters: “Bertelsmann mourns the loss of one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our age. Our thoughts are with Reinhard Mohn’s family, especially with his widow Liz and his children. We pay tribute to him and his life’s work, and see it as our mandate to express our gratitude and respect by upholding and advancing Bertelsmann and its culture of partnership, in his spirit”.
