Julia Jäkel

Jäkel studied history, political science, and economics at Heidelberg University and Harvard University. She holds an MPhil in International relations from the University of Cambridge.

In 1997, Jäkel completed the Bertelsmann Entrepreneurs Program and joined Gruner + Jahr, where she rose through the ranks. In 2012, Jäkel was appointed to the Executive Board, taking responsibility for the German business, and a few months later, she became chief executive officer of Gruner + Jahr. At the beginning of her term, she discontinued the Financial Times Deutschland of which she had been a member of the founding team for five years. She reorganized the portfolio, focusing on Germany and France. Jäkel led the digital transformation, promoted creativity and multiplied digital revenues. She broke up hierarchies and outdated management structures, and made the publisher more efficient.

Jäkel became a member of the Bertelsmann Group Management Committee in 2013 and chaired the Bertelsmann Content Alliance right from its start in 2019, coordinating all content businesses of Bertelsmann in Germany. In 2021, Jäkel left both Gruner + Jahr and Bertelsmann at her own request.

In 2023, Jäkel was appointed by Germany’s state governments as a member of an expert group advising on a reform of country’s public broadcasting.