Mathias Doepfner

Mathias Doepfner is chairman and CEO of German media giant Axel Springer, which is active in over 40 countries and employs more than 16,000 people.

Axel Springer hired him in 1988 as Editor-in-Chief of its newspaper Die Welt. He joined the company's executive board in 2000 and became CEO in 2002.

His success in building revenue from digital activities, from under $150 million to around $3 billion, helped earn the trust of controlling shareholder Friede Springer.

To ensure continuity, in 2020 Friede Springer gave him a 15% stake in Axel Springer and sold him an additional 4.1%. He was awarded additional stock and now owns nearly 22%.

Axel Springer went public in 1985. In 2020, it went private again in a KKR-funded buyout that valued the company at around $8 billion.