Press Release | Gütersloh, 12/21/2015

Kay Krafft Appointed to Bertelsmann’s Group Management Committee

Kay Krafft, CEO Bertelsmann Education Group, will take a seat on Bertelsmann’s Group Management Committee (GMC), effective January 1, 2016. Krafft (45) has worked for the international media, services, and education company since 2006, and since March 2014 has been responsible for the expansion of the education sector, one of Bertelsmann’s strategic growth platforms.

Thomas Rabe, Chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann, said: “Kay Krafft’s appointment to our Group Management Committee underscores the strategic importance of the education business for Bertelsmann. He has ensured that Bertelsmann now has relevant businesses in the education sector. We will continue to expand our education business into a third pillar alongside media and services. I look forward to working even more closely with Kay Krafft on the continuation of this growth story.”

The Bertelsmann Education Group, which Krafft has led since September this year, pools Bertelsmann's various activities in the field of education. These include the e-learning provider Relias Learning and Bertelsmann’s shareholdings in the online education company Udacity and in HotChalk, a leading online education platform in the U.S.

Bertelsmann concentrates its education business on online education, with an emphasis on healthcare and technology. The focus is on bringing education closer to employment. The businesses are mainly based in the U.S. at this time, and are growing at double-digit rates. In the medium term they will be internationally oriented, driven by the growing demand for professionals as well as the increasing availability of online learning. Bertelsmann intends to generate around one billion euros in revenues here in the medium term.

From 2009 to early 2014, Kay Krafft, as Chief Investment Officer of BMG, was a member of the music company’s management board and helped turn the startup into one of the major players in the music industry. Prior to this, he had headed the M&A department at Bertelsmann. From 2000 to 2005, Krafft was a partner at the consulting firm Deloitte, after career stations that included working at the Treuhandanstalt in Berlin.

The Group Management Committee advises and assists the Bertelsmann Executive Board on important matters of Group strategy and development, and other Group-wide issues. Its 17 members represent seven nationalities. In addition to Executive Board members Thomas Rabe (Chairman and CEO Bertelsmann), Fernando Carro (CEO Arvato), Markus Dohle (CEO Penguin Random House), Immanuel Hermreck (CHRO Bertelsmann), and Anke Schäferkordt (Co-CEO RTL Group), the GMC is comprised of the following top managers at Bertelsmann:

• Julia Jäkel (CEO and Chairwoman of the Executive Board Gruner + Jahr)
• Kay Krafft (CEO Bertelsmann Education Group)
• Andreas Krohn (CEO Customer Relationship Management Arvato)
• Annabelle Yu Long (Chief Executive Bertelsmann China Corporate Center and Managing Partner Bertelsmann Asia Investments)
• Hartwig Masuch (CEO BMG)
• Guillaume de Posch (Co-CEO RTL Group)
• Gail Rebuck (Chair of the Penguin Random House UK Board)
• Frank Schirrmeister (CEO Supply Chain Management Arvato)
• Karin Schlautmann (Executive Vice President Corporate Communications Bertelsmann)
• Bertram Stausberg (CEO Be Printers)
• Nicolas de Tavernost (CEO and Chairman of the Management Board Groupe M6)
• Michael Weinreich (CEO Financial Solutions Arvato)

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the service providers Arvato and Be Printers, the music company BMG and the Bertelsmann Education Group. The company has more than 112,000 employees and generated revenues of €16.7 billion in financial year 2014. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes the creation of first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world.