Urs Heller hands over management of Ringier Audience Media to Stefan Regez
Effective January 1, 2019, Stefan Regez will become Head of Consumer Magazines and a member of the Executive Board of Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland. He will succeed Urs Heller, who is retiring at the end of the year. In addition, the Executive Board of Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland AG will be expanded.
After forty successful years with Ringier and Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland, Urs Heller (65) is retiring at the end of the year and handing over his position as Head of Consumer Magazines and Member of the Executive Board of Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG to Stefan Regez (47), Axel Springer Switzerland announced on Thursday. Heller will continue to work for Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland on a mandate basis after his normal retirement. He will manage the lifestyle magazines Al Dente, Travel, Cruise, Wallis and Golf. He will also remain Editor-in-Chief of GaultMillau Switzerland and will continue to develop new formats for Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland.
Urs Heller began his journalistic career in 1973 as sports editor at the Luzerner Tagblatt and four years later joined Blick and thus Ringier in the same role. Heller subsequently held various management and editorial positions at Blick, SonntagsBlick and Schweizer Illustrierte. Since 2016, Heller has been Head of Consumer Magazines at the then newly founded joint venture Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG. Prior to this, he was Managing Director Magazines Switzerland at Ringier AG for eight years. He developed and launched new brands such as Style and Schweizer LandLiebe for the company and manages all lifestyle magazines for Schweizer Illustrierte.
Marc Walder, CEO Ringier AG: "Urs Heller has significantly shaped and successfully developed the magazines of Ringier AG. He has developed Schweizer Illustrierte from a magazine into an entire group. He has also been responsible for such successful new launches as Schweizer LandLiebe and Style. With GaultMillau, in turn, he has challenged and promoted the Swiss restaurant and hotel industry. I would like to thank Urs Heller most sincerely for his forty years at Ringier. Over these decades, he has played a substantial role in shaping the Swiss publishing landscape."
Ralph Büchi, CEO Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG and Head of Publishing at Ringier AG: "I would like to thank Urs Heller for his many years of extremely successful collaboration with Ringier and, since 2016, with Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland. As one of the most creative minds in the Swiss media world, he has played a major role in the continued success of our consumer magazines. I am particularly pleased that our collaboration is continuing under new auspices."
On January 1, 2019, Stefan Regez will become Head of Consumer Magazines and a member of the Executive Board of Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG. Regez has been working for Schweizer Illustrierte for eight years. He studied geography, history and geology at the University of Bern. He began his journalistic career in 1996 as a freelancer for the Handelszeitung. From 1999 to the end of 2006, he was on the management board of Gossweiler Media in Brienz, including five years as editor-in-chief of the Jungfrau Zeitung. In 2007, Regez first became Head of News and later Editor-in-Chief of the commuter newspaper News. From April 1, 2010, he was Head of News and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Schweizer Illustrierte - then Editor-in-Chief from March 2012 and Co-Editor-in-Chief since March 2015. He is currently completing the Digital Business Leadership Program at Columbia Business School in New York and San Francisco. In addition to his new role, Regez will remain Co-Editor-in-Chief of Schweizer Illustrierte together with Werner De Schepper.
There will be further changes to the Executive Board of Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG as of January 1, 2019: Thomas Passen (48), Chief Revenue Officer of Ringier AG and Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG, will join the Executive Board on January 1, 2019. Passen will be responsible for content marketing and partnerships. In close consultation with Admeira, he is the direct contact for advertising clients in this rapidly growing segment of the advertising market.
Nina Ranke (37), Head of Business Media, Patricia Franzoni (41), Head of HR, Michael Jaggi (44), Chief Technology Officer and Michael Moersch (37), Chief Digital Officer, will also be appointed to the extended Executive Board of Ringier Axel Springer Schweiz AG as of January 1, 2019.
Nina Siegrist (39) will also be appointed Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Schweizer Illustrierte as of January 1, 2019. Siegrist studied journalism, business administration and film studies at the Universities of Zurich and Hamburg. She worked for Schweizer Illustrierte in various roles from 2008 to 2013, most recently as Head of Economics for three years. After a short break, she returned to the company on February 1, 2014 as an editor for the magazine SI Gruen. She has been Head of SI Gruen and SI Travel since the beginning of 2015.
Ralph Büchi: "I wish Stefan Regez, Nina Siegrist and all the new members of the Executive Board much joy and success in their expanded tasks."
