Thomas Rabe (born August 6, 1965, in Luxembourg) is a German business executive.[1] In 2006, he was appointed to the Bertelsmann executive board, of which he has been chairman and chief executive officer since 2012.[2][3] Under his leadership, the group has become more international, more digital and more diversified.[4][5] In particular, he has advanced the business with music rights and the educational division.[6] Additionally, Rabe was appointed chief executive officer of RTL Group in 2019.[7]
Early life and education
Rabe was born in 1965 in Luxembourg and grew up in Brussels,[8][9] where his father worked as a civil servant in the European Coal and Steel Community from 1968.[10] He attended the European School and as a youth was a bass player in a punk band.[11] After completing his German baccalaureate (Abitur), Rabe studied Business and Economics at the RWTH Aachen and the University of Cologne.[12] After earning a degree in business administration in 1989, he obtained his doctorate in economics, with a doctoral thesis on "Liberalization and Deregulation in the European Single Market for Insurance" in 1995.[13]
In addition to his native language German, Rabe speaks English, French, Dutch and Spanish.[14]
Career
Rabe began his career at the European Commission in Brussels. At the Commission, from 1989 he worked in the Directorate-General for Financial Institutions and Corporate Law.[10] One year later, he joined his supervisor in moving to the law firm Forrester, Norall & Sutton,[15] which today belongs to White & Case.[16] There he managed client accounts from the European Union, the United States and Japan.[15] In 1991, Rabe was employed by the Treuhand agency in Berlin.[17] In this capacity, among other responsibilities, he was in charge of the privatization of the assets of the Ministry for State Security and the National People's Army of the former GDR.[18] In 1993, he was promoted to head of the Controlling Department.[12] Subsequently, Rabe was involved as head of acquisitions at the Beteiligungsgesellschaft Neue Länder investment agency of the Association of German Banks (BdB),[13] in investing DM 400 million in East German companies.[18] After earning his Ph.D., in 1996 Rabe was hired as office head of the CEO of the Luxembourg financial service provider, Cedel International.[15][18] He held additional positions there before being appointed chief financial officer in 1998.[19] In subsequent years, he prepared the merger of Cedel International with Deutsche Börse Clearing into Clearstream.[18]
In 2000, Rabe joined RTL Group as CFO.[13] Here, he was additionally responsible for strategy and the Luxembourg television and radio business.[20] Five years later, Bertelsmann brought him back to Gütersloh.[21][22][23] Rabe was appointed as the group's CFO on January 1, 2006.[24] At the same time, he was responsible for the Bertelsmann Music Group until 2008.[13] Among other activities, Rabe also negotiated the buyback of shares from Groupe Bruxelles Lambert to prevent Bertelsmann from going public.[11][25] In addition, the group established its own investment fund in Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments.[26] Later, Rabe organized the return of Bertelsmann into the music business.[27] His recruitment of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. as an investor in BMG Rights Management was seen as a key decision for the music company's future development.[1]
Around 2009 Rabe was reportedly considered as future CEO of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media group and of the Franz Haniel & Cie. investment holding,[28] but Rabe ultimately stayed with Bertelsmann.[29][30]
- CEO of Bertelsmann, 2012–present
After Hartmut Ostrowski announced his retirement as chairman and CEO in 2011,[31] Rabe was declared his successor, effective January 1, 2012.[32][33] With Rabe's appointment, Bertelsmann ushered in a strategy change towards stronger growth.[34][35][36] Under his leadership, Bertelsmann experienced increased growth into Brazil, China, and India, and consolidated this development by bundling these activities in the Bertelsmann Investments division.[37][38] Also, Rabe managed to complete the merger of Penguin Books with Random House to create the world's largest trade book publisher, and the purchase of the remaining shares in Gruner + Jahr.[39][40] He built the education division into an additional pillar of the business,[41][42] which today operates as the Bertelsmann Education Group.[43] He consolidated the printing operations into the Bertelsmann Printing Group.[44] Thus, by 2016, he had expanded the number of corporate divisions to eight.[45][46]
Rabe's contract as chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann's executive board runs until 2021.[47][48] As CEO of RTL Group, he oversees the company's TV unit;[49] he is a member of the board of directors of Penguin Random House, among others.[50]
Other activities
- Corporate boards
- Adidas, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board (since 2019)[51]
- Penguin Random House, Chairman of the Supervisory Board (since 2018)
- Gruner + Jahr, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2012)
- RTL Group, Chief Executive Officer (since 2019) and Member of the Board of Directors (since 2012)[49]
- Symrise (2011–2019), Chairman of the Supervisory Board[52]
- Springer Science+Business Media, Member of Supervisory Board (since 2010)
- Non-profit boards
Personal life
Rabe lives in Gütersloh and Berlin and is married to a neurologist.[55][56] The couple collects modern art and, in 2015, purchased a Henry van de Velde-designed villa in Tervuren near Brussels.[57]
Rabe is a member of the Catholic fraternity AV Hansea-Berlin zu Köln.[58]
References
External links
- Curriculum Vitae of Thomas Rabe on the official Bertelsmann website
- Thomas Rabe, Bertelsmann CEO: From punk rock to family values (Financial Times)