Dirk Refäuter to Leave Bertelsmann AG

Dirk Refäuter, Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Development at Bertelsmann AG, will leave the company at the end of the year to pursue new professional challenges. The change comes against the backdrop of the CEO changeover, amicably and by mutual consent.

In the past few years, Refäuter’s tasks have included developing strategies and concepts for investing in new markets and growth areas. Education was one of the focus areas. Bertelsmann’s Chairman & CEO Hartmut Ostrowski said: “Dirk Refäuter put exceptional effort into preparing Bertelsmann’s entry into Education as a line of business. His successful work plays a major part in the fact that we now possess new platforms that open up a wide range of options in this growth market. We can and will make good use of them shortly.”

Ostrowski thanked Dirk Refäuter for his contribution to the company’s continued development and the long years of successful cooperation: “I am sure that Bertelsmann will continue to profit from Dirk Refäuter’s ideas. Under his leadership, our Corporate Development team has evolved many valuable impulses for our company’s future growth. For this and for our always trustful collaboration, I would like to sincerely thank him on behalf of Bertelsmann and wish him lots of success and all the best for the future.”

Refäuter will leave the company with effect from December 31, 2011.

About Bertelsmann AG

Bertelsmann is an international media company whose core divisions encompass television (RTL Group), book publishing (Random House), magazine publishing (Gruner + Jahr), and outsourcing services (Arvato) in 50 countries. In 2010, the company’s businesses, with their 100,000 employees, generated revenues of €15.8 billion. Bertelsmann stands for a distinctive combination of creativity and entrepreneurship that empowers the creation of first-rate media, communications, and service offerings to inspire people around the world and to provide innovative solutions for customers.

For further questions, please contact:

Andreas Grafemeyer
Senior Vice President Media Relations
Phone: +49 – 52 41 / 80 24 66
andreas.grafemeyer@bertelsmann.de

Attachment

Name	Size
Refaeuter_engl.pdf	27 kB