Florian Fels becomes CEO Publishing at Ringier
Florian Fels becomes CEO Publishing Ringier and is thus newly responsible for the core business. The Publishing division was previously managed directly by Ringier CEO Marc Walder. Florian Fels will be succeeded at Ringier Axel Springer Media by Mark Dean.
The 45-year-old Florian Fels previously held a dual position: on the one hand, as CEO Ringier Eastern Europe, he was responsible for Ringier's activities in Hungary and Romania - at the same time, since the merger of the Eastern European businesses of Ringier and Axel Springer in 2010, Fels was also CEO of the joint venture Ringier Axel Springer Media and thus responsible for the publishing business in Poland, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Slovakia. Fels is a member of the Group Executive Board at Ringier.
Florian Fels will take over as head of the Publishing division at Ringier as of March 1, 2013, according to a statement on Monday. Marc Walder, CEO of Ringier, had until now directly managed the Publishing division, which was formed from the former Ringier Switzerland and Germany business area.
Florian Fels has held various positions at the German publishing house Axel Springer since 1993, and from 1999 to 2010 in Poland, most recently as Managing CEO of Axel Springer Poland. Fels' successor as CEO at Ringier Axel Springer Media will be Mark Dekan, until now already Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the joint venture between Ringier and Axel Springer. He will continue to perform the function of CFO. Dekan was previously Commercial Director of Finance & Services at Axel Springer since 2008.
Marc Walder, CEO Ringier, on the new appointment: "With Florian Fels, a manager who is extremely well versed and experienced in the core business of our company is taking over the still central Publishing division. Mark Dean, on the other hand, takes over as CEO of Ringier Axel Springer Media from the man who has been utterly convincing as CFO over the past three years and who, together with Florian Fels, has played a key role in shaping this joint venture with Axel Springer.
At Ringier, the Publishing division comprises the Blick Group, Ringier Magazines, Ringier Romandie, Ringier Germany, Ringier Print Adligenswil, Swissprinters, Ringier China & Pacific, and IT & Services. The three other divisions at Ringier are Ringier Entertainment (headed by Michael Voss), Ringier Digital (headed by Thomas Kaiser), and Ringier Eastern Europe (still headed by Florian Fels).
