Middelhoff, Thomas

Thomas Middelhoff, (born May 11, 1953, Düsseldorf, West Germany), German business executive who was chairman and CEO of the global media giant Bertelsmann AG from 1998 to 2002.

Middelhoff earned an M.B.A. from Westphalian Wilhelm University of Münster, Germany, and studied marketing before joining his family’s textile business in 1984. He took his first position with a Bertelsmann subsidiary in 1986 and quickly climbed the corporate ranks. Renowned for his high-tech savvy, Middelhoff met Steve Case, founder of Internet service provider America Online (AOL), in 1994. Middelhoff was so impressed with AOL that he urged his company to invest millions in it and its European counterpart. The value of that investment soared, as did Middelhoff’s standing with Bertelsmann. These and other successes propelled Middelhoff into Bertelsmann’s CEO position in 1998.

Middelhoff subsequently set out to shed unprofitable businesses, reinvigorate traditional ones, and, principally, make Bertelsmann a leading provider of content. Bertelsmann sold its interests in AOL and AOL Europe and turned to investing in other online technologies, specifically the Internet file-sharing company Napster. Bertelsmann also accelerated its global strategy to acquire publishing houses and other media assets throughout the world. Key subsidiaries included Germany-based publishers Gruner + Jahr and BertelsmannSpringer, American publishers Bantam Doubleday Dell and Random House, and BMG Entertainment (which owned more than 200 record labels in more than 50 countries, including Arista and RCA in the United States). In 2001 the firm gained a controlling interest in the Luxembourg-based RTL Group, Europe’s largest producer of radio, television, and movie content and operator of numerous radio and TV stations across the continent.

Meanwhile, Middelhoff made a push to take Bertelsmann public. The initiative was opposed by the company’s controlling family, and as a result Middelhoff was forced out in 2002. About a year after his departure from Bertelsmann, Middelhoff became a partner with the global investment company Investcorp, a position that he held until 2005. In 2004 he also became chairman of the struggling retail and mail-order business KarstadtQuelle (later called Arcandor), and in 2005 he was made CEO. Middelhoff left Arcandor in 2009, just before the company went bankrupt. That same year he cofounded the investment company Berger Lahnstein Middelhoff & Partners.

Middelhoff was later accused of misusing corporate funds while at Arcandor. Examples of his alleged excessive spending included using a helicopter to fly to and from work. He went on trial in 2014 and was found guilty of embezzlement and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years in prison.