Axel Springer SE is a European multinational mass and online media company, based in Berlin, Germany. The company offers printing and publishing of advertisements, digital classifieds portfolio, marketing models and related services. Axel Springer's operations are segmented into News Media, Classifieds Media, and Marketing Media. The company is organized as a societas Europaea (SE) publishing house and is one of the largest mass media publishers in the European Union, with numerous multimedia news brands, such as Bild, Die Welt, Fakt, and the US political news site Politico, which Axel Springer acquired in 2021.[5]
The company generated total revenues of about €3.93 billion and an EBITDA increase of 12.8% in the first half of 2023.[6][7] Following US private-equity firm KKR's majority-stake acquisition in 2020, Axel Springer’s revenues have increased by a total of approximately €1 billion.[8][9][10] The company, including its subsidiaries, joint ventures, and licenses, operates in more than 40 countries.
The company was started in 1946 by journalist Axel Springer.[11] Mathias Döpfner became its CEO in 2002.[12] In 2004, Axel Springer company, the largest publishing house in Europe at that time, controlled the largest German market share for daily newspapers; 23.6%, largely because its flagship tabloid Bild is the highest-circulation newspaper in Europe with a daily readership exceeding 12 million.[13] By 2022, the company had a market share of 10.6% in Germany.[14]
October 2022 data indicates that Axel Springer's BILD brands attract approximately six million unique users daily, totaling up to 40 million unique users per month.[15] IVW's data from June 2023 shows BILD receiving 504 million monthly visits and WELT achieving 127 million. In the United States, Axel Springer is ranked among the top four digital publishers, alongside USA Today, News Corp, and The New York Times.[6]
Newspapers, magazines, online offerings
BILD
- Audio Video Foto Bild, magazine for consumer electronics
- Bild, tabloid with the largest circulation in Europe
- B.Z., local newspaper
- Computer Bild, published in nine countries, Europe's best-selling computer magazine
- Sport Bild, Europe's largest sport magazine
- Transfermarkt, a football transfer information website
WELT
- Die Welt, the company's intellectual flagship, including the Welt TV news channel
Multinational media
History
1940s
In 1946, publisher Hinrich Springer (age 66) and his son Axel Springer (age 34) established the limited company Axel Springer Verlag GmbH. That year saw the launch of the Nordwestdeutsche Hefte and the radio and Hörzu, which was originally launched as a radio broadcast but later became a TV magazine as well.
In 1948, the afternoon and evening newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt was launched, the first daily newspaper created by Axel Springer.
1950s
The year 1952 saw the launch of the popular daily newspaper Bild. The paper was based on the British tabloid Daily Mirror[17] and peaked at a circulation of 5 million in the 1980s.[18] The Sunday paper Bild am Sonntag was launched in 1956.
In 1953, Axel Springer Verlag bought the publishing house Die Welt, including the daily paper Die Welt and the Sunday paper
Acquisitions
Business Insider
In September 2015, Axel Springer acquired Business Insider at a $442 million valuation. It purchased an additional 88% of the company for $343 million, bringing its total ownership to 97%.[52][53]
Morning Brew
In October 2020, Axel Springer and Insider Inc. acquired Morning Brew, a media startup that focuses on business newsletters and podcasts, for around $75 million.[54][55] The Morning Brew brand remains fully intact post-deal, and the business will operate completely independently with Insider Inc. The company’s co-founders retain a sizeable minority stake and have an earn-out clause built into the deal.[55]
Criticism
Pro-American editorial bias and alleged ties to US intelligence agencies
As of 2001, the Axel Springer SE names what it describes as "solidarity with the libertarian values of the United States of America" as one of its core principles on its website.[62] This explicit stance has led to criticism from scholars and independent observers regarding the company's reported alignment with American interests.[63][64][65][66] Furthermore, an article in Foreign Policy has criticised Axel Springer SE for a history of compromising journalistic ethics to support right-wing causes, implying a longstanding pattern of bias in its publications.[67]
Competitors
Major competitors in the German publishing market include Bauer Media Group, Bertelsmann, Hubert Burda Media, and Holtzbrinck. On a global scale, some of the key competitors of Axel Springer include other large multinational media companies such as News Corporation, Time Warner, and The New York Times Company.[81] These companies operate in a variety of different media sectors, including print, television, and digital, and are all major players in the global media industry.[82] In addition to traditional media companies, Axel Springer also competes with a number of digital media platforms and companies, such as Google, Facebook, and Apple, which have become increasingly influential in the media industry in recent years.[83][84] These companies have disrupted the traditional media business model by offering new ways for people to access news and information, and have posed a significant challenge to traditional media companies like Axel Springer.
See also
- Concentration of media ownership
- Protests of 1968
External links
- Values
- Unsere Essentials (in German)
References
- Axel Springer SE Annual Report 2019 Axel Springer SE, retrieved 18 January 2024^
- Axel Springer to cut jobs, warns AI could replace journalism Deutsche Welle, 28 February 2023, retrieved 18 January 2024^
- Laura Pitel, Will Louch. Media group Axel Springer dividends top €775mn over past 4 years