t-online

Logo of t-online

T-Online is one of the largest news platforms in Germany and provides its readers with the latest news from the fields of politics, sport, entertainment, business and finance. It also offers advice articles on topics such as life, health and home & garden. Originally launched to promote T-Online's sales, the T-Online portal was sold to Ströer Media, a prominent marketer of online and outdoor advertising, in November 2015. This marked the beginning of Ströer's involvement in the editorial sector. Since 2017, t-online's content has been produced in the central editorial office in Berlin, which is headed by Editor-in-Chief Florian Harms, formerly Editor-in-Chief of Spiegel Online. In addition to Berlin, another important location is Frankfurt am Main, where Tobias Fella, Managing Director of Ströer Digital Publishing, as well as product management, IT and marketing are based. Today, T-Online offers a mixture of editorial, advertising and service content. A large proportion of traffic also comes from T-Online's e-mail service.

Key Facts

Audience Share0.03%
Ownership TypePrivate
Geographic CoverageNational
Content TypeFree
Active Transparency
company/channel informs proactively and comprehensively about its ownership, data is constantly updated and easily verifiable

Ownership

Ownership StructureStröer Digital Publishing GmbH is wholly owned by Ströer SE & Co KG aA, a listed company. Udo Müller, co-founder and CEO of Ströer, holds a 24.1% stake. Dirk Ströer, co-founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board, holds 20% of the shares.
The free float in Ströer SE & Co KG aA, i.e. the shares held by the general public, amounts to 19.3%. ValueAct Capital MFB Holdings L.P., an investment company, holds a stake of 15.3%. JP Morgan Chase Bank, one of the largest banks in the USA, owns 12.1% of the shares. Allianz Global Investors GmbH, a global investment company, holds 9.2% of the shares.
Voting RightsAs a wholly owned subsidiary, decisions are made in Ströer Digital Publishing GmbH via the management of Ströer SE & Co KG aA. This is a partnership limited by shares. This means that voting on comprehensive issues takes place by share at the General Meeting. There is also a Supervisory Board, although it has less authority than other stock corporations and, in particular, cannot appoint or dismiss the Management Board.
Individual Owner
Group / Individual Owner
  • Allianz Global Investors GmbH

    Allianz Global Investors GmbH is an investment company of the German Allianz insurance group. It manages assets for private and institutional investors as well as for Allianz itself.
    9.15
  • ValueAct Capital MFB Holdings L.P.

    ValueAct Capital is an investment company for institutional investors. ValueAct initially acquired a 5.2 per cent stake in Ströer in March 2021 and gradually increased its holding. The Americans are now the third-largest investor behind Ströer Co-CEO Udo Müller and co-founder Dirk Ströer. Finance magazine wrote: "In the market, Valueact is regarded as an activist investor that is definitely involved in the corporate policy of its investments.
    15.21
  • Free float

    Ströer shares are traded on the XETRA stock exchange and are included in the MDAX. 43.44% of the company is owned by small investors, each of whom holds less than 3% of the company.
    19.3

Media Companies / Groups

Facts

Founding Year1995
Founder
  • Deutsche Telekom
    is a global provider of telecommunications and information technology. It offers a wide range of services, including mobile telephony, fixed-line telephony, Internet and television. Deutsche Telekom is also a sponsor in the sports sector and operates its own streaming service called Magenta TV. It is also the licensor of the online portal t-online.de. Deutsche Telekom is a public limited company, which means that it is owned by various shareholders. 65.03% of the shares are in free float, Softbank holds 4.51% of the shares, the Federal Republic of Germany owns 13.83% and KfW Bankengruppe 16.63%.
CEO
  • Marc Schmitz
    is the CEO of the Ströer Content Group, which also includes T-Online. He has been working for Ströer since May 2016. Prior to that, he worked for the Springer women's portal gofeminin.de for around eight years. Under his leadership, Ströer has developed from a marketer into a media company.
  • Sven Scheffler
    is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Ströer Content Group, which also includes T-Online. He has been Managing Director of Ströer Digital Publishing GmbH since May 2022. Before joining Ströer, Sven Scheffler worked at Axel Springer, where he was Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Spring Axel Springer Digital News Media GmbH & Co KG and responsible for the product development of Bild and Welt. He also worked as Director Product at WeltN24 and merged the digital brands Die Welt and N24.
  • Tobias Fella
    has been Co-Managing Director of Ströer Digital Publishing GmbH, which also includes T-Online, since the end of 2019. Together with a product and tech team, he is responsible for the technological basis for the further development of T-Online.
Editor-In-Chief
  • Dr Florian Harms
    has been Editor-in-Chief of t-online.de since 2017. Prior to that, he worked for Spiegel Online from 2004 and was its editor-in-chief from January 2015 to December 2016. Harms studied Islamic Studies and Political Science in Freiburg im Breisgau and Damascus. His first novel, "Versuchung", was published in 2019.
  • Florian Wichert
    initially built up the sports section and has been deputy editor-in-chief at t-online.de since October 2018.
Other Important People
  • Christoph Schwennicke
    member of the Editorial Board and Head of Exclusive at T-Online. From May 2021 to March 2023, he was one of the managing directors of the collecting society Corint Media. From 2012 to 2021, he was editor-in-chief of the political magazine Cicero. From 2016 to 2021, he was a partner in Res Publica Verlag, which publishes Cicero and Monopol, together with Alexander Marguier.
  • Lukas Martin
    Member of the Editorial Board, Head of CvDs & Traffic
  • Antje von Winterfeld
    Member of the Editorial Board, Head of Consulting & Editorial Sales
ContactStröer Digital Publishing GmbH
Ströer-Allee 1
50999 Köln
Germany
RevenueMissing Data
Operating ProfitMissing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)Missing Data
Market ShareMissing Data
Headlines
Meta DataStröer Digital Publishing GmbH does not publish its business figures separately, but in the consolidated financial statements of Ströer, which is listed on the MDAX. Due to its stock market listing, the Group reports its figures as a whole on a segment basis. t-online is included in the Digital & Dialogue Media segment, but is not listed separately.
Sources
Documents (PDF)
  • Erklärung zur Unternehmensführung 2023
    File
  • Geschäftsbericht 2023 Ströer SE & Co. KGaA
    File