Axel Springer

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The company was started in 1946 by journalist Axel Springer and his father Hinrich Springer, establishing the limited company Axel Springer Verlag GmbH. That year saw the launch of the Nordwestdeutsche Hefte and the radio and Hörzu. In 1948, the afternoon and evening newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt was launched, the first daily newspaper created by Axel Springer. The year 1952 saw the launch of the popular daily newspaper Bild, based on the British tabloid Daily Mirror, which peaked at a circulation of 5 million in the 1980s. In 1953, Axel Springer Verlag bought the publishing house Die Welt, including the daily paper Die Welt and the Sunday paper Welt am Sonntag. By 1959, Springer took over Ullstein Verlag completely, acquiring the Berliner Morgenpost and B.Z. as well. Mathias Döpfner became its CEO in 2002. In 2004, the company, then the largest publishing house in Europe, controlled 23.6% of the German daily newspaper market, largely because its flagship tabloid Bild is the highest-circulation newspaper in Europe with a daily readership exceeding 12 million. By 2022, the company had a market share of 10.6% in Germany. 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. In October 2021, Axel Springer acquired Politico. In July 2024, reports emerged that Axel Springer and KKR were in talks to potentially split the media conglomerate, confirmed in September 2024, making Axel Springer a fully privately owned and operated media company. In March 2026, the company made an offer to acquire the Telegraph Media Group in a deal estimated at £575 million.

Reader's Guide

Axel Springer SE's operations are segmented into News Media, Classifieds Media, and Marketing Media. Its News Media segment includes brands like Bild, Die Welt, Politico, Business Insider, and Morning Brew. Bild, a tabloid with the largest circulation in Europe, attracted approximately six million unique users daily as of October 2022, totaling up to 40 million unique users per month. 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. The company's Classifieds Media segment includes Aviv (with real estate portals immonet, immowelt, and SeLoger) and Stepstone. Marketing Media includes AWIN, a company that provides solutions for product marketing and services. The company generated total revenues of about €3.93 billion and an EBITDA increase of 12.8% in the first half of 2023. The company, including its subsidiaries, joint ventures, and licenses, operates in more than 40 countries. In 2020, Friede Springer transferred $1.5 billion of Axel Springer shares to CEO Mathias Dopfner, effectively making him heir of the media group. Under the arrangement, Friede Springer sold a 4.1% stake to Dopfner and gifted him 15% more, bringing Dopfner's direct stake to 22%. She also transferred voting rights to Dopfner for her remaining 22% in the business. In October 2020, Axel Springer and Insider Inc. acquired Morning Brew for around $75 million.

Did You Know?

• Axel Springer SE was started in 1946 by journalist Axel Springer and his father Hinrich Springer.
• Bild, launched in 1952, peaked at a circulation of 5 million in the 1980s and is the highest-circulation newspaper in Europe with a daily readership exceeding 12 million.
• In 2020, Friede Springer transferred $1.5 billion of Axel Springer shares to CEO Mathias Dopfner, making him heir of the media group.
• Axel Springer acquired Politico in October 2021.
• In March 2026, the company made an offer to acquire the Telegraph Media Group for an estimated £575 million.