Bertelsmann announced last week that beginning April 1, 2001, it will divide its book group--currently made up of the book publishing and direct-marketing book club operations--into separate divisions, while at the same time combining the book clubs with the company's multimedia activities into a new group to be called Bertelsmann direct. As part of the long-range plan, Thomas Middelhoff, Bertelsmann chairman and CEO, said that Random House chief Peter Olson will become chairman of the new book publishing division at the end of March 2001 when Frank Wossner, currently chairman of the book division, reaches the company's mandatory retirement age of 60 for executive board members.
With his promotion in 2001, Olson will continue in his role as chairman and CEO of Random House, as well as overseeing the rest of Bertelsmann's worldwide consumer book operations. He will remain based in New York. Middelhoff noted that with approximately 70% of the new book publishing division's revenues generated in North America, it was "appropriate that Olson be based in New York." Olson will also be named to Bertelsmann's executive board in 2001, the first American to serve as a director of the German giant.
The new Bertelsmann direct division will be led by Klaus Eierhoff, currently head of the multimedia division. The direct division will include all book clubs as well as such multimedia operations as BOL, bn.com, AOL and CompuServ.
In order to ensure a smooth transition to the new corporate alignment, beginning January 1, 2000, three executive committees will be established. Wossner and Eierhoff will be on the direct committee, Wossner and Olson on the book publishing committee and all three men will form a third committee designed to coordinate all the changes.
