ProSiebenSat.1 parts ways with Group CEO Conze
After months of management squabbles, the German TV group ProSiebenSat.1 is replacing its CEO Max Conze. The manager, who has recently come under increasing criticism, will leave the company with immediate effect, ProSiebenSat.1 announced on Thursday evening.
This was the decision of the Board of Directors, the statement added. Conze was brought in from the British vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson just under two years ago as the successor to the controversial Thomas Ebeling. Now, Chief Financial Officer Rainer Beaujean is also to serve as Group CEO. The change at the top also brings with it new accents in the strategy: In the future, the focus will again be on the core business with television and entertainment, and ProSiebenSat.1 wants to gradually sell the startup investments.
Fewer members of the Corporate Executive Committee
The dispute in the management of ProSiebenSat.1 had escalated a few weeks ago, when Deputy Group CEO Conrad Albert had to leave after 15 years with the company because of critical statements. In an interview, the media policy expert had spoken of an "executive board soap opera" and made it clear that he did not want to extend his contract under Conze's aegis, which still had one year to run. During Conze's term of office, the Executive Board had thus shrunk from six to two members. The 51-year-old Beaujean had only arrived in July 2019 from the packaging group Gerresheimer. There - as previously at T-Online - he had risen from Chief Financial Officer to Group CEO.
The management team at ProSiebenSat.1 is now being expanded again. Wolfgang Link, who has been with the Group since 2009 and was in charge of the German business for a long time, is taking over the entertainment department. He is responsible for formats such as "The Masked Singer" and "The Voice of Germany. In addition, Christine Scheffler, Head of Human Resources, is moving up to the Executive Board.
Realignment of the company strategy
The investments in startups and other Internet companies, which were boosted with TV advertising on the company's own channels, on the other hand, are to be "sold in due course," it said. Conze had only recently added the American app developer Meet Group for $500 million and wanted to forge a leading provider in the online dating market together with the existing holdings Parship and ElitePartner. Financial investor General Atlantic also has a stake in subsidiary NuCom, in which the young companies are bundled. (SDA)
