Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner under fire

Mathias Döpfner, Chief Executive Officer of the German Axel Springer SE and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG since 2022, is once again caught in the media crossfire: as the German "Time" reports - and among others the "Mirror" various internal messages from Döpfner have been "leaked. These allow conclusions to be drawn about the influential manager's view of the world.

In addition to political statements (quote from 2017: "free west, fuck the intolerant muslims and all the other nonsense."), disdain for East Germany (quote from 2019: "The ossis are either communists or fascists. In between, they don't. Gross.") and a paean to global warming (quote from 2017: "I'm very much in favor of climate change. (...) Civilization phases of warmth have always been more successful than those of cold.") there is also the accusation that Döpfner tried to influence the German parliamentary elections in 2021 via the Springer flagship "Bild".

"Please strength the FDP"

While in the case of the previously cited messages it was neither made public who the recipients were - there is only talk of Döpfner's "closest management circle" - nor who was responsible for the leaks, the political messages were probably primarily addressed to Julian Reichelt.

At the time, he was still editor-in-chief of Bild and was supposed to persuade the German electorate to vote for the liberal party at Döpfner's behest (quote from 2021: "Please strengthen the FDP. If they are very strong, they can be so authoritarian in a traffic light that it bursts. And then Jamaica works.")

A short time later, the aforementioned Julian Reichelt was forced to resign, not because of political opinion-making, but because of various internal affairs and compliance procedures. Reichelt himself vigorously denies the accusations against him to this day. The relationship between him and Döpfner is considered complex; the latter had presumably personally sponsored the "Bild" boss for several years.

Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG did not wish to comment on the issue when asked.