Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe announced in a Handelsblatt interview that India will play a much larger role for the company, targeting one billion euros in revenue. He emphasized pushing internationalization in his final months as CEO.
Cologne. Thomas Rabe has strongly internationalized Bertelsmann over 15 years. In his final months as CEO, he aims to advance this strategy, as he told Handelsblatt. India is taking center stage: “India will play a much larger role for Bertelsmann in the future than today,” Rabe announced. The group, which owns RTL Group and Penguin Random House, targets one billion euros in revenue there. About one third of Bertelsmann's revenue now comes from the US, the world's most important media market, Rabe said. Despite a lawsuit by US President Donald Trump against Penguin Random House, he sees opportunities. Rabe, who will hand over to Thomas Coesfeld at year-end, hopes for quick approval of the RTL and Sky merger in Germany. This should help RTL catch up with international streamers like Netflix and Amazon Prime. In the interview, he explains the expected synergies from the purchase and his preparations for departure.
