Friede Springer prevails in inheritance dispute

 
Everything remains the same at Axel Springer. Majority shareholder Friede Springer has won the legal dispute over the shares she inherited in the media group. The Hanseatic Higher Regional Court ruled on Tuesday that an agreement reached after the death of publisher Axel Caesar Springer regarding the distribution of the inheritance is valid. The judges thus dismissed the appeal of his grandson Axel Sven, who wanted to be awarded a larger share of the shares, against the background of inconsistencies regarding the last will and testament of the founder of the publishing house, Axel Caesar Springer. Shortly before his death in 1985, he changed his will, but it was no longer formally recorded. In the new version, the grandson only received 5 percent of the inheritance instead of 25 percent, while the fifth wife Friede received 70 percent instead of 50 percent. The inheritance consisted of 25 percent of all shares in the publishing house. Although grandson Alex Sven agreed to the change to the will in a notarized deed at the time, he contested it in 2002 on the grounds that he was unable to cope with the decision at the time due to his personal situation.
Friede Springer now holds more than 50 percent of the company. Axel Springer AG publishes the Bild newspaper, the daily newspaper Die Welt and the television magazine Hörzu, among others.