As expected, Liz Mohn, head of the German dynasty that controls Bertelsmann, nominated board member Hartmut Ostrowski to succeed Gunter Thielen as chief executive of Europe’s largest media conglomerate, reports the Financial Times. The 64-year-old Thielen will take over as chairman of the company’s supervisory board when he gives up day-to-day responsibility for the group behind RTL and Random House at the end of the year, people close to the company told the Financial Times.
Ostrowski, who has run the printing and media services division Arvato since 2002, is expected to follow the conservative strategy devised by Thielen, which saw the group retreat from its former pursuit of online ventures. “Ostrowski will cement Thielen’s strategy of turning Bertelsmann back into a solid German company with international bits, like RTL TV in Europe and Random House [books] in the US,” said one person who knows the group.