Rabe to head Bertelsmann

BERLIN -- German media giant Bertelsmann has tapped Thomas Rabe, currently the conglom's chief financial officer, as chairman and CEO effective January. Rabe replaces topper Hartmut Ostrowski, who is ankling the post after just four years. Ostrowski, who will take a seat on Bertelsmann's supervisory board, is stepping down for personal reasons, the company said, adding that the "changeover takes place amicably and by mutual consent." The unexpected executive shakeup comes as a surprise: Bertelsmann, whose main assets include pan-European broadcasting and production powerhouse RTL Group, U.S. publishing giant Random House and Gruner + Jahr, Europe's biggest magazine publisher, is on a solid footing: Last year it exceeded its profit forecast as earnings skyrocketed from Euros 35 million ($47.8 million) to $895 million, while revenue rose 4.5% to $21.56 million. In the first half of this year the group saw earnings increase nearly 10% to $367 million as sales climbed 2% to $9.8 billion. Rabe has served as Bertelsmann's chief financial officer and head of its corporate center since 2006. Prior to that, he had held the same post at RTL Group. In addition to his duties as finance chief, Rabe is also responsible for Bertelsmann's corporate investments growth initiatives, which include the holding in the music rights company BMG, and the Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments and Bertelsmann Asia Investments funds. Gunter Thielen, former Bertelsmann CEO and current chairman of the company's supervisory board, said of Rabe, "We are sure that in him, we have an entrepreneur at the top who will lend further momentum to Bertelsmann's growth strategy and future development." Bertelsmann will name a new chief financial officer at a later date. Thielen also praised the outgoing CEO. "Bertelsmann owes Hartmut Ostrowski a great debt of gratitude. He led the company in difficult times. I look forward to continuing to work with him on the supervisory board. The timing of the changeover ensures that the passing of the baton to Thomas Rabe will be handled smoothly." Ostrowski, who joined Bertelsmann in 1982, has worked for the company in various positions, becoming CEO of the group's service company Arvato in 2002, and replacing Thielen as group topper in 2008. During his four years at the job, Ostrowski successfully steered Bertelsmann through the recent economic crisis, paid down the group's debt to the target level and expanded the Arvato unit, which grew out of Bertelsmann's printing arm, into an international services company with some 63,000 employees worldwide. Contact Ed Meza at staff@variety.com