Music label BMG appoints 33-year-old Scion as chief executive

The 33-year-old heir to one of Europe’s most powerful media families is set to take charge of music label BMG as its parent company Bertelsmann grooms its next generation of leaders.

Thomas Kosfeld will take over in July from outgoing chief executive Hartwig Masuch, who has chaired the music group since 2008 and built it into one of the most successful branches of the German publishing conglomerate, which also owns Penguin Random House and broadcasting group RTL.

Coesfeld and his brother Carsten, who was appointed CEO of Bertelsmann’s investment group last year, are the seventh generation of the dynasty that founded the company in 1835.

BMG, which is a European rival to US music groups Universal, Warner and Sony, said the appointment would bring forward a long-planned change of leadership at the division that was originally scheduled for January next year.

It added that Masuch, 69, had requested an earlier departure because of his personal plans for the future, but would remain connected to Bertelsmann in an advisory capacity until 2026.

Thomas Rabe, CEO of Bertelsmann, described him as “a great music entrepreneur” who had created a new type of music company.

Masuch said he was leaving “on a high note – and in the firm belief that with Thomas Kosfeld and his management team, a new generation will successfully lead the music company into a new era”.

Bertelsmann sold his old music publishing business to Universal Music in 2006 for €1.63 billion and then started from scratch under Masuch two years later.

Since then, it has become one of the most thriving branches of the Bertelsmann Group – which generated more than €20bn in revenue last year – as it pursued an aggressive strategy of acquiring music labels and catalogs with the backing of an American private equity firm. . KKR.

The Berlin-based music conglomerate, which counts Rita Ora and Kylie Minogue among its artists and owns a catalog including Mick Jagger, Roger Waters and Tina Turner, last year enjoyed the fastest growth in its history, up 31 percent in revenue. increased by. €866 million. Operating profit after earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was €195 million.

Coesfeld, a former McKinsey consultant, joined the family business in 2016. He became Deputy Chief Financial Officer at BMG in 2020 before becoming Chief Financial Officer the following year.

His most immediate goals are likely to be to maintain the growth momentum and reach the target of achieving annual revenues of €1 billion.

Alice Anders, a music industry expert at the consultancy Anders Analysis, said that Masuch was a legend in the music industry whose “shoes may be difficult to fill”. But she said that, as a former CFO, Koesfeld understood the business “extremely well.” He described him as a “good choice” to continue the “strong financial management” at BMG.

Koesfeld and his brother are widely seen within Bertelsmann as poised to take over leadership of the family-owned media empire from Rabe, who has served as chief executive since 2002. His contract is due to expire in 2026.

The siblings are grandsons of the late Reinhard Mohn, who turned a provincial printing house that began publishing Bibles into a global media participant. Mohan’s son Christoph, the child born from his second marriage, is chairman of the supervisory board of Bertelsmann. The Koesfeld brothers are grandchildren from Reinhard Mohn’s first relationship.