Süddeutsche Zeitung
The Süddeutsche Zeitung is one of the most important national daily newspapers in Germany. It is considered to be more left-liberal and attaches greater relevance to cultural issues than comparable daily newspapers. Like most newspapers, the SZ is struggling with a declining print circulation, but at the same time has a growing digital business.
SZ was owned by five shareholder families until 2007, when four families (except the Friedmann family) finally sought to sell the company. Public interest was immense and there were prominent bidders. However, the winning bidder was SWMH, which was already a minority shareholder and had secured a right of first refusal.
In 2017, reporting on the Panama Papers caused a stir. Süddeutsche was the first media outlet to gain access to the documents and was then able to evaluate the information in an international research network (ICIJ). The ICIJ received the Pulitzer Prize for its work, making Süddeutsche the only German media outlet to do so.
Audience Share
3.1%
Ownership Type
private
Geographic Coverage
National
Content Type
paid content
Media Companies / Groups
Süddeutsche Verlag
Medien Union
Ownership Structure
Süddeutsche Zeitung belongs to Süddeutsche Verlag GmbH, whose majority shareholder (81.3 %) is Südwestdeutsche Medien Holding GmbH (SWMH). Another shareholder is SV Friedmann Holding GmbH (18.8 %), which represents the interests of the Munich-based Friedmann publishing family. It is also worth mentioning the stake held by Medien Union GmbH in SWMH (47.5%), whose Managing Director Thomas Schaub has also been Chairman of the SZ Editorial Board since 2021 and is therefore one of the most influential people at SZ.
Voting Rights
Resolutions can be passed by the shareholders with a simple majority at a shareholders' meeting.
Individual Owner
Group / Individual Owner
The Ebner Family
The Ebner publishing family has been active in the media landscape in southern Germany for several generations. Eberhard Ebner, who was co-publisher and shareholder of Südwest Presse, died at the beginning of 2024. Ebner was also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of SWMH and a member of the Editorial Board of Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Ruth Alberle
Descendant of the founder of the Neue Württembergische Zeitung
Albert Esslinger-Kiefer
Publisher of the Pforzheimer Zeitung
Minor shareholders
Around 40% of the shares are held by numerous co-owners of the main shareholder Südwestdeutsche Medienholding.
General Information
Founding Year
1945
Affiliated Interests Founder
The Allies were looking for suitable people to receive a license to publish a daily newspaper in Bavaria. The decisive factor was that the people were not migrants, i.e. that they had witnessed the Nazis' deeds in the country, and they were guided by the pre-war party profile. The following three men were ultimately selected:
was a state parliament correspondent for the liberal Bavarian Farmers' Association and was physically attacked by an NSDAP member of parliament in 1931. The Nazis banned him from his profession in 1933.
was the editor of a Catholic magazine that was banned by the NSDAP and wrote non-political novels during the Nazi era.
Edmund Goldschagg
Affiliated Interests Ceo
born 1974 in Bad Homburg, studied business administration and was a member of the Executive Board of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE until 2017. He has been Managing Director of Südwestdeutsche Medienholding GmbH since 2018 and also Managing Director of Süddeutsche Zeitung since 2021.
born in Munich in 1961, studied philosophy and business administration and previously worked at the management consultancy Roland Berger. He worked there as a consultant for Süddeutsche Zeitung from 2002 before moving to Süddeutscher Verlag as Managing Director in 2010.
Affiliated Interests Editor-In-Chief
Editor-in-chief of the SZ since 2015, began his career at the Donaukurier and studied philosophy in Munich. In the 1990s he worked for Stern and Spiegel before joining the SZ as editor-in-chief in 2003.
Editor-in-chief of the SZ since 2020, was previously editor-in-chief of the Tages-Anzeiger in Zurich. The Swiss journalist is also a member of the jury for the Egon Erwin Kisch Prize and, together with Wolfgang Krach, forms an equal double leadership team at the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Affiliated Interests other important people
Grandson of Werner Friedmann, who became the fourth licensee of the Süddeutsche Zeitung in 1946. Today, Oliver Friedmann is on the editorial board of the SZ and the Friedmann publishing family holds an 18.8% stake in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
is also on the editorial board and also comes from a publishing family. Schaub manages Medien Union GmbH Ludwigshafen, which in turn holds a 44% stake in Südwestdeutsche Medienholding GmbH.
is also one of the editors of SZ. He is also a shareholder and publisher of Schwarzwälder Bote. Schwarzwälder Bote GmbH u. Co KG is a member of the Württemberg Publishers Group and holds an equity interest in Südwestdeutsche Medien Holding GmbH (SWMH).
Contact
Süddeutsche Zeitung GmbH
Hultschiner Straße 8
81677 München
Tel.: +49 89 2183 0
E-Mail: redaktion@sueddeutsche.de
Website: www.sueddeutsche.de
Financial Information
Revenue (in Mill. $)
€ 310 Mio.(2021) / USD 365 Mio.
Operating Profit (in Mill. $)
Missing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)
Missing Data
Market Share
Missing Data
Further Information
Headlines
Meta Data
As a limited liability company, Süddeutscher Verlag does not publish any business figures. Turnover figures are only available for 2021 - and only from indirect sources. Süddeutsche Verlag did not respond to our enquiry about the lack of information.
The average dollar exchange rate for 2021 was used for the conversion (USD 1.18 for 1 euro).
