Press Release | Gütersloh, 02/19/2026

Bertelsmann Has Invested Around €1 Billion in Its Home Region of Gütersloh Since 2013

• Donations totaling €300,000 in 2025
• Around €4 million donated in the Gütersloh region since 2013
• Investments in Gütersloh will total around €50 million in 2025
• With 10,000 employees, Bertelsmann is the largest private employer in the greater Gütersloh area
• Puccini exhibition attracts 12,000 visitors to Theater Gütersloh
• 2026: Bertelsmann Corporate Center celebrates its 50th anniversary
• Further substantial investments planned for 2026
• Thomas Rabe: “Gütersloh remains the home of Bertelsmann.”

Gütersloh, February 19, 2026 – The international media, services, and education company Bertelsmann invested around €50 million in its Gütersloh-based businesses in 2025 (2024: €76 million). The funds were primarily invested in the IT subsidiary Arvato Systems and the logistics services business of the Arvato Group. Since 2013, investments in OWL have totaled around €1 billion. Bertelsmann remains firmly committed to its home location and plans to continue making substantial investments in the region.

Bertelsmann Chairman and CEO Thomas Rabe said: “Gütersloh is and will remain Bertelsmann’s home. With around 10,000 employees, Gütersloh is not only our largest location worldwide, but also a central pillar for our Group’s development. That is why we are continuously investing here – economically, socially and culturally.”

In the 2025 financial year, Bertelsmann supported more than 200 organizations, nonprofit groups, and projects in Gütersloh with €300,000 (2024: €250,000). In addition, there were numerous in-kind donations, including more than 6,000 books. Bertelsmann made a Christmas donation of €25,000 to the Bielefeld palliative care initiative “Der Weg nach Hause” (The Way Home) for the 19th time, bringing its total support since 2006 to around €500,000. Since 2013, Bertelsmann’s charitable donations in the Gütersloh region have totaled around €4 million.

The number of employees at the company’s headquarters has remained constant at around 10,000 for many years, and Bertelsmann continues to be the largest private employer in the region. In August 2025, 100 new trainees and dual-study students began their training at Bertelsmann in the region (2024: 107). All 2025 graduates received a job offer within the Group.

On June 3 and 4, Bertelsmann once again hosted a management meeting at the Theater Gütersloh. Around 500 top international managers from the Group traveled to Gütersloh for the event. A highlight of the 2025 event calendar was the exhibition “Opera Meets New Media – Puccini, Ricordi, and the Rise of the Modern Entertainment Industry,” which Bertelsmann presented to the city of Gütersloh as a gift on the 200th anniversary of its city charter. After Berlin and Milan, the exhibition was on display at Theater Gütersloh from October 29, 2025, to January 4, 2026, attracting around 12,000 visitors.

Bertelsmann also contributed to the city’s cultural life in other ways: The literary format “The Blue Sofa” was held in Gütersloh with authors Stefan Kaminski and Raphaela Gromes, underscoring the company’s commitment to promoting culture and social dialogue at its home location. In April, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister-President Hendrik Wüst came to Gütersloh for a Bertelsmann Forum. In November, Bertelsmann was the main sponsor of the Lesestadt Gütersloh (Gütersloh Reading City) event, which included bringing RTL’s children’s and family radio brand TOGGO Radio to Gütersloh.

Bertelsmann is planning further events at its home location in 2026. The first “Blue Sofa” will take place on April 29 at the Theater Gütersloh with renowned profiler and criminologist Axel Petermann.

A historic anniversary is coming up in the summer of 2026: The Bertelsmann Corporate Center, located at Carl-Bertelsmann-Straße 270, will mark its 50th anniversary with a summer party for employees.

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company with about 75,000 employees that operates in some 50 countries around the world. It includes the entertainment group RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato Group, Bertelsmann Marketing Services, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company generated revenues of €19 billion in the 2024 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination enables first-class media offerings and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world.