Ulrike Handel and Nidal Salahuddin expand the Executive Board of Axel Springer
Ulrike Handel (left) and Nidal Salah al-Din
Source: Raimar von Wienskowski; Axel Springer SE / Claudia Widener
For Matthias Dobfner, CEO of Axel Springer, this is the beginning of the “next development phase of the company”: the media group, to which WELT also belongs, is expanding and renewing its executive board.
DrMedia group Axel Springer has expanded its board of directors from four to five members. Director Ulrike Handel (50) will join the committee on May 1 as the person in charge of the national media business with the ‘Bild’ and WELT brands, and Niddal Salah-Eldin (36) on July 1 for the new ‘talent and culture’ as announced by the media group. Saturday evening in Berlin. Salah-Eldin Currently in Axel Springer In a leadership position for the in-house academy, which combines training of journalists and technical talents, he previously held the position of deputy editor-in-chief of dpa from 2019 to 2021.
Former board member Stephanie Caspar, 48, who is in charge of the online classifieds business, is also leaving the company on July 31 “by mutual agreement,” it was also said. After a potential initial public offering of an online job-sharing portal corridor of stones can be re-cut.
With the new members, the board will go on to comprise CEO Matthias Dubfner (59), Jan Baer (51), who will be appointed as deputy on July 1 and will lead US business, and Julian Deutz (54), who was previously in charge of finance and human resources. In the future he will focus on the field of finance.
“With the expansion of the board of directors, Axel Springer can continue its successful growth path following its recent acquisitions in the United States,” said Springer Supervisory Board Chairman Ralph Bucci. Döpfner added, “I am looking forward to the next phase of the company’s development phase with an expanded and renewed board of directors.”
It recently became known that after the purchase of American media brands, including the important brand Springer “Politico”, focuses on the United States of America through the restructuring of the Board of Directors. Springer described the deal in October 2021 as the largest corporate acquisition in the company’s history. Bayer will be active in the United States for at least a year starting in the summer. To date, he has been responsible for all media brands, both nationally and internationally.
Springer wants to grow faster in its digital business and entered into a strategic partnership with US financial investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) in 2019. Springer, which is headquartered in Berlin and employs about 16,000 employees worldwide, withdrew from the exchange in 2020.
Focus on employee development
Portions of the newly created “Talents and Culture” board, for which Saladin will be responsible in the future, were formerly the purview of Deutz. With the new design, you should focus on these topics more than before. The highest priority is given to various cultural challenges in various areas of the company and all other topics of employee development.
Salah El-Din will continue as a member of the Board of Directors as General Manager and Chairman of the Board of Directors FreeTech – Axel Springer Academy of Journalism and Technology Be responsible. The 36-year-old had already worked for Axel Springer before becoming deputy editor-in-chief and head of innovation and product at dpa. Between 2014 and 2019, she headed the Social Media and Digital Innovation division at WELT.
Ulrike Handel has also previously worked for Axel Springer for several years. Between 2000 and 2011 she held various management positions, including being a member of the publishing department of the WELT Group. This was followed by positions in marketing companies.