Thomas Coesfeld Appointed Chairman & CEO of Bertelsmann Group

BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld will assume the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BMG’s parent company, Bertelsmann, from January 2027 onwards.

Timeline:

• Coesfeld will succeed current Bertelsmann head Thomas Rabe when his contract expires on December 31, 2026, ending his 15-year tenure.

• Coesfeld will maintain his current role as BMG CEO in tandem with this new responsibility.

Backstory:

• Coesfeld has been CEO of BMG's music division since 2023, and a member of the Bertelsmann executive board since 2024.

• In April 2021 he was appointed Chief Financial Officer of BMG.

• Prior he was Deputy Chief Financial Officer.

• Before joining BMG in 2020 he was a member of the Executive Committee of the Bertelsmann Printing Group, and Chief Strategy Officer at Mohn Media in Gütersloh.

The company:

• In addition to leading BMG, Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company with approximately 75,000 employees across 50 countries.

What they said:

• Christoph Mohn, Chairman of the Bertelsmann supervisory board: “Over the past 10 years at Bertelsmann, I have come to know Thomas Coesfeld as an entrepreneurial leader. In recent years, he has taken the music company BMG to significantly higher levels of revenue and earnings and positioned it even more firmly for the streaming age. His appointment marks a generational change in Bertelsmann’s leadership. I wish him every success and a steady entrepreneurial hand.”