Hubert Burda assets

Short introduction

Hubert Burda is a German publisher and owner of Hubert Burda Media.

Early life

Hubert Burda was born in Heidelberg in 1940 as the son of the publishing couple Franz and Aenne Burda. In his school days he took painting lessons and from then on pursued the desire to become a painter. His father was not taken aback by this wish and wanted a different career for his son. Franz Burda made a compromise with Hubert that he could study art history if he completed the subject at the age of 25, including a doctorate. After graduating from high school, Burda studied art history, archeology and sociology at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and at the universities in Rome, Paris and London. At the age of 26 he received his doctorate in art history.

Career

After receiving his doctorate, Burda went to the United States for a while, where he volunteered in advertising agencies and publishers. He then worked until 1974 in Germany as head of publishing in the in-house magazine “Bild und Funk”. In 1969 he tried his own magazine “m – the magazine for men”. The magazine project was discontinued after a year, at the decision of father Franz. The latter was strictly Catholic and did not agree with the content of the magazine. From 1965 to 1975 Hubert Burda was editor-in-chief of the illustrated magazine “BUNTE”. After his father Franz died in 1986, the publishing house passed to Hubert Burda and his brothers Frieder and Franz. Hubert Burda acquired the shares of the two brothers and became the sole shareholder and CEO of Burda Holding. In 1999 the name of Burda Holding was changed to Hubert Burda Media.

Career highlights

With the news magazine “Focus”, Hubert Burda, together with journalist and media entrepreneur Helmut Markwort, managed to compete with the great rival “Der Spiegel”. In addition to the successful “Focus” magazine, Burda continued to expand many magazines and was thus able to generate a major plus. Hubert Burda Media’s product range no longer only includes publishing, but also a large digital offering such as Holidaycheck, XING and Cyberport, international cooperation (including with the French publisher “Hachette”) and expansion abroad, such as in Russia or India. All of the company’s divisions together have around 12,000 employees. Together, the company generated sales of around 2.7 billion euros. With a total wealth of 3.7 billion euros, Hubert Burda is one of the richest people in the world according to the Forbes list of 2018 with 588 place. In Germany, he is the third richest publisher after Friede Springer and Elisabeth Mohn.

Famous quotes

“The success of an idea is not determined by the size of the company, but by its innovative spirit.”

“Competition is good for people. It creates innovation. It offers alternatives and reasonable prices. It’s worth fighting for. ”

“Rather stir up dust than put on dust.”

“Contradiction is the engine of life.”

“Modern thinking and brilliant knowledge pulsate in binary data streams through the networks. The prosperity of tomorrow is growing here. ”

“The most valuable potential is good employees.”

Amazing facts

In 2001 Hubert Burda founded the “Felix Burda Foundation” together with his ex-wife Christa Maar. This campaigns for improved early detection of colorectal cancer. Felix Burda, the oldest son of the publisher Hubert Burda, died of colorectal cancer at the age of 33, whereupon his parents founded this non-profit foundation. In addition, Burda donated several prizes, such as the international literary award “Petracar” (1975) or the Hermann Lenz Prize for German-language literature in 1999. In addition, the publisher is committed to German-Jewish reconciliation and supported the Jewish Museum in Munich with a donation of one million euros. Hubert Burda received several awards, including the “Honorary Professorship of the Prime Minister of the State of Baden-Württemberg” and the “Great Cross of Merit with a Star”.