Word: bertelsmann
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...Mohn BERTELSMANN...
Reinhard Mohn inherited the modest German publishing house that his great-grandfather founded in 1835, and he turned it into a global media giant called Bertelsmann. Today that firm owns book publisher Random House, the BMG music group and a majority stake in the European TV network RTL, among other properties. Mohn, 81, stepped back from active management a decade ago, but the company's transition to outside executives has not been smooth...
...Bertelsmann stock is not publicly listed, and Mohn and his second wife Liz, 61, control the firm through a holding company--and keep a watchful eye on management. Three years ago, supervisory board chairman Mark Woessner left after a falling-out with the Mohns, and last July the family ousted celebrated CEO Thomas Middelhoff, who had spent billions trying to propel Bertelsmann into the digital era, committing the company to a public offering in 2005 that it is trying to wriggle...
...Mohn, a former secretary in the book-club division, has played a prominent role behind the scenes and was instrumental in firing Middelhoff. She and her husband have three children, two of whom work at Bertelsmann: Christoph, 37, who is the chief executive of the Internet affiliate Lycos Europe, and Brigitte, 38, who works at a company foundation. If Liz is trying to position her children to take over Bertelsmann, she isn't saying...
Even considering those formidable instincts, Davis, 68, is in the midst of a career resurrection few thought he would ever see. In 1999 Davis was the president of Arista Records, the label he founded and had run for 25 years, when Arista's German parent, Bertelsmann Music Group, pressed him to retire. After months of tabloid speculation about how Davis--whose ego is a frequent subject of industry jokes ("Why does Clive Davis like CDs more than tapes? He thinks they were named after him")--would respond, he surprised his critics, friends and corporate overlords by stepping aside without...