
Years of Management Experience at the Highest Levels

BERTELSMANN
As a Board Member (1994-2002) he was responsible for the development of the strategy. As the CEO (1998-2002) of Bertelsmann, Thomas positioned the company as a pioneer of digital media and one of the major media conglomerates in the world.

AOL
Thomas led Bertelsmann's internet and digital activities and was responsible for Bertelsmann's joint venture with AoL in 1995. He then became Board Member of Aol Inc. (1995-2000).


INVESTCORP
From 2002 to 2005, Thomas led the European activities of global private equity investor Investcorp.
ARCANDOR
Thomas was appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Arcandor AG in 2004. In 2005, he was appointed CEO of Arcandor AG, with a 3-year contract to save the company. In 2008, his contract was extended by one year at the request of the employee representatives.

The New York Times
Thomas was Board Member for the New York Times (2003-2014). In this position he supervised the transition of the New York Times to a digital newspaper.
CURRICULUM VITAE
1984 - 1986
1980 - 1983
1975 - 1979
03/2023
03/2022
09/2021
08/2021
11/2020
10/2020
05/2020
09/2019
Beginning of 2018
11/2017
11/2017
05/2016
05/2015
11/2014
11/2010 - 11/2014
03/2009 - 10/2010
05/2005 - 02/2009
06/2003 - 05/2005
1986 - 2002
11/1998 - 07/2002
07/1994
07/1990
03/1990
01/1989
07/1987
11/1986
2006 - 2014
2010 - 2014
2009 - 2014
2003 - 2014
2008 - 2009
2007 - 2009
2005 - 2009
2005 - 2009
2007 - 2008
2005 - 2008
2005 - 2008
2004 - 2007
2004 - 2006
2004 - 2005
2003 - 2005
2004
2000 - 2002
1998 - 2002
1999 - 2001
1999 - 2000
1998 - 2000
1998 - 2000
1995 - 2000
Current
Since 2008
Former
2008 - 2013
2008 - 2009
2007 - 2010
2007 - 2009
2006 - 2009
2004 - 2009
2003 - 2004
2002 - 2009
2002 - 2007
2001 - 2002
1999 - 2004
1999 - 2003
1999 - 2002
1998 - 2002
In 2007
In 2001
In 1998
Education
Doctoral Thesis on Online Service and Retail at the University of Saarland, Saarbruecken Degree: Ph.D.
Assistant
University of Muenster, Institute of Marketing
Study of Business Administration at the University of Muenster
Core disciplines: Marketing and Information Technologies
Degree: Business Administration (Diplom-Kaufmann)
Professional Experience
CEO at Middelhoff Consulting GmbH
Foundation of Middelhoff Consulting GmbH
Senior Advisor at Mountain Partners AG and consultant in Switzerland and abroad
Insolvency exemption
OMR publishes a documentary on Youtube about "Middelhoff- Der krasse Fall eines Managers" (Middelhoff - the blatant case of a manager), which uses material that a production company had produced for WDR, but WDR did not want to broadcast. This Youtube documentary has 740,000 views so far (as of February 2023).
Publication of the book "Future missed? Why Germany overslept digitalization. And how the crisis is helping us to catch up after all" together with Dr. Cornelius Boersch. The book was published in 6 languages and includes forewords by Steve Case (ex. CEO & Chairman AOLTime Warner) & Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Rayport (Harvard University), Noboyuki Idei (ex-CEO & Chairman Sony Corp.) and Prof. Dr. Jiren Liu, Founder, CEO & Charmain Neusoft, depending on the language version.
A 115 is published supplemented and revised in paperback
Publication of the book "Schuldig - Vom Scheitern und Wiederaufstehen," which also becomes a SPIEGEL bestseller
Begins lecturing at the University of Innsbruck with the first lecture titled: "From Heaven to Hell". This is followed by many more lectures in the following years.
Release from prison
Publication of the book A 115, while still incarcerated in the open prison system. A 115 criticizes the conditions of imprisonment in Germany and in particular the form of suicide control practiced up to that time. After legal disputes with SPIEGEL, A 115 becomes a SPIEGEL bestseller
Commencement of prison sentence at the Bielefeld Senne Prison open prison system and works as an assistant at Bodelschwingsche Anstalten Bethel
Release (seriously ill as a result of sleep deprivation) from pre-trial detention on bail of €875,000.00, surrender of passport, and the requirement to report to the Bielefeld police station twice a week
Sentence by the Essen Regional Court for embezzlement in the amount of €487,500 (27 out of 950 total flights for which invoices had been checked and approved by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and Thomas Middelhoff had privately paid for over 450 flights worth €2,400,000, in addition to a commemorative publication for Dr. Mark Wössner which 1/3 was paid privately by Thomas Middelhoff) and VAT evasion in 3 cases in the amount of €26,500 (the VAT on the commemorative publication for Dr. Mark Wössner) with a 3-year prison sentence. Due to the risk of absconding, immediately after announcing the verdict, the courtroom arrests and transfers to pre-trial detention (JVA Essen) with an ordered 15-minute suicide check, which was monitored over a 5-week period. The sleep deprivation associated with this leads to an incurable autoimmune disease. The verdict and the circumstances of the imprisonment remain controversial in legal circles to this day
Chairman and Founding Partner
Pulse Capital Partners LLC
Chairman and Founding Partner
BLM Partners London, UK
Chairman of the Management
Board Arcandor AG, Essen
(until 06/2007, KarstadtQuelle AG)
Head of Europe for Corporate Investment
Investcorp International Ltd., London, UK
Bertelsmann AG (see below)
Bertelsmann AG
Chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann AG, Guetersloh
Member of the Executive Board of Bertelsmann AG
Head of Corporate Development and Coordinator of
Bertelsmann's multimedia business, Head of IT worldwide
Mohndruck (Chairman of the Managing Board)
Industry Division of Bertelsmann AG (Member of the Board)
Mohndruck GmbH and Calender Publishing Company (President)
Elsnerdruck GmbH (President)
Mohndruck Graphische Betriebe GmbH (Managing Assistant)
Supervisory Board Seats
Senator Entertainment AG, Berlin (Member)
(Chairman until August 2011)
3W Power SA, Zwanenburg, The Netherlands (Member)
Marseille-Kliniken AG, Berlin
The New York Times Company, New York, USA (Member)
Germany1 Acquisition Ltd., Guernsey (Co-Chairman)
moneybookers.com Ltd., London, UK (Chairman)
Thomas Cook Group plc, London, UK (Chairman)
Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH, Essen (Chairman)
The Polestar Group Ltd, Buckinghamshire, UK (Chairman)
Quelle GmbH, Fuerth (Chairman)
neckermann.de GmbH, Frankfurt (Chairman)
Apcoa Parking AG, Stuttgart (Chairman)
The Polestar Group Ltd., Buckinghamshire, UK
KarstadtQuelle AG, Essen (Chairman)
Investcorp International Ltd., London, UK
Avecia Holdings plc, Manchester, UK
RTL Group S.A., Luxembourg (Deputy Chairman)
(traded in Brussels, London, Luxembourg)
Member of the Board of Trustees, Bertelsmann Foundation,
Guetersloh
Vivendi S.A., Paris, France
Gruner + Jahr AG & Co., Hamburg
Metro AG, Cologne
bamesandnoble.com, New York, USA
America Online, Inc., Dulles, USA
Other Memberships
Member of the Global Advisory Board of the Oxford University Center for Corporate Reputation, Oxford, UK
Member of the Advisory Council of the University of Muenster,
Muenster
Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Institute of
Corporate Governance of the University Witten/Herdecke, Witten
Member of the Advisory Board of NRW.Bank, Duesseldorf
Member of the Naturallianz (a consortium of representatives from
politics, NGOs, business, media, science and culture that engages in
the sustainable utilization of the biological diversity around the world),
Berlin
Member of the Advisory Board of BHF-Bank, Frankfurt
Member of the VW Marketing Advisory Board, Wolfsburg
Member of the Supervisory Board Olympia "Bid Committee
Leipzig 2012”
Member of the Economic Advisory Board of RWE AG, Essen
Member of the Fitch Ratings Advisory Board, Paris, France
Member of the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT),
Brussels, Belgium
Member of the Board: Scientific Society for Marketing
and Business Management, e. V., Muenster
(Scientific Society for Marketing and Corporate Management)
Co-Founder Global Business Dialogue for E-Commerce (jointly
with Steve Case, Lou Gerstner, Michio Naruto and other leading
business executives)
Founding Member: Society of Friends of the Academy of Arts, Berlin
(Association of Friends of The Academy of Arts)
Partner, BVG - Bertelsmann Verwaltungsgesellschaft, Guetersloh
(Company Controls the voting right of Bertelsmann AG)
Awards
Role Model Award ("Bayreuther Vorbildspreis") of the University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth
Steven J. Ross Humanitarian Achievement Award of the UJA-Federation of New York, New York, USA
Vernon A. Walters Award of Atlantik-Bruecke e.V. and Armonk Institute (New York), New York, USA