Press Release

Press Release | Gütersloh, 04/06/2022

Carsten Coesfeld Named CEO of Bertelsmann Investments

  • Responsibility for global fund network with 300 holdings and for development of new lines of business by Bertelsmann Next
  • Appointment to Bertelsmann's Group Management Committee (GMC)

Gütersloh, April 6, 2022 – Carsten Coesfeld has been appointed as the new CEO of Bertelsmann Investments. With effect from June 1, 2022, he will take the helm of one of the international media, services, and education company's seven divisions. In his new role, Coesfeld, currently CEO of the international non-fiction publisher DK, will report directly to Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe, who had previously headed the Bertelsmann Investments division in addition to his other positions. Further to this announcement, the Bertelsmann Executive Board has appointed Carsten Coesfeld to the company's Group Management Committee (GMC). The GMC is immediately below the Group Executive Board. The committee advises and supports the Executive Board on important matters of corporate strategy and development.

Thomas Rabe, Chairman & CEO of Bertelsmann, said: "I am very pleased that Carsten Coesfeld, an internationally experienced manager, is taking over the leadership of Bertelsmann Investments. In his previous leadership positions at Arvato and Penguin Random House, he has led existing businesses to more growth and higher profitability and successfully developed new businesses. I wish him every success in his new role at the head of a strong team. In addition, I look forward to working with Carsten Coesfeld on the GMC and to the impetus he will give to the work of this strategically important body. "

As CEO of Bertelsmann Investments, Carsten Coesfeld on the one hand supervises the Group's global network of funds with currently around 300 direct and indirect investments, and on the other hand heads the Bertelsmann Next department, which is charged with the entrepreneurial development of new growth sectors and lines of business. Bertelsmann Next will initially focus on the Digital Health segment, a market that is seeing strong growth worldwide. Bertelsmann Investments is active in the U.S. and Europe, as well as in China, Brazil, and India, and most recently in Southeast Asia and Africa. Since its launch in 2006, Bertelsmann has invested around €1.5 billion in digital companies through its venture capital funds. The financial returns, mainly from sales and IPOs, amounted to more than €1 billion in the same period.

Carsten Coesfeld became CEO of the London-based global nonfiction publisher Dorling Kindersley (DK) in March 2020. He systematically focused DK on the online channel, and pursued collaborations with its sister publishers at PRH. DK ended the 2021 financial year with record results.

At the beginning of 2016, Coesfeld had been appointed President Telecommunications and Managing Director at Arvato Supply Chain Solutions. Together with his team, Coesfeld transformed the business and achieved 20 percent growth, primarily by partnering with leading, high-growth technology companies. Previously, he had rebuilt the hospital billing business at Arvato Financial Solutions and served as a member of the executive board of BFS Health Finance.

Coesfeld began his tenure at Bertelsmann in 2011 working as a management associate for the Chief Executive Officer. In 2012, he moved to New York City to join Penguin Random House where he held a variety of business development and strategy roles throughout the newly founded, globally active book publishing group. Carsten Coesfeld earned a bachelor's degree in business from the WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management and a master's degree from the London School of Economics. He started his career in the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in London in October 2009.

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 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, the Bertelsmann Printing Group, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company has 145,000 employees and generated revenues of €18.7 billion in the 2021 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world. Bertelsmann aspires to achieve climate neutrality by 2030.

About Bertelsmann Investments
Bertelsmann Investments (BI), Bertelsmann’s global venture capital arm, is comprised of four funds: Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), Bertelsmann Brazil Investments (BBI), and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI). BI also participates in select funds in Southeast Asia and Africa, among other regions. To date, Bertelsmann Investments has invested around €1.5 billion in more than 400 innovative companies and funds. Bertelsmann Investments (BI) expanded its network of start-ups and funds to nearly 300 active investments.