Dr. Gunter Thielen

Dr. Gunter Thielen has been Chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann AG in Guetersloh, Germany since August 2002. Under his leadership, Bertelsmann has significantly increased its profitability.

Bertelsmann occupies leading positions in all its core markets – television, books, music, magazines, media clubs, and media services. The company has operations in 63 countries and more than 97.000 employees worldwide. Revenues for 2006 amounted to €19,3 billion.

Dr. Thielen became member of the Bertelsmann AG Executive Board in 1985 as head of the former “Printing and Manufacturing” division, which in 1999 became Bertelsmann Arvato AG. Before joining Bertelsmann, Dr. Thielen held various executive positions in the BASF group. Prior to that, he was technical director of the Wintershall refinery in Kassel. Dr. Thielen began his experience in the printing industry and Bertelsmann in 1980, when he became CEO of the Maul-Belser gravure printing company in Nuremberg.

Dr. Thielen has an educational background in mechanical engineering and economics and holds a doctoral degree in engineering.