Web.de

Logo of Web.de

Web.de was founded in 1995 by the brothers Michael and Matthias Greve as an internet directory. It comprised 2,500 categorised links to websites and served as a starting point for users of the still young web. In 1998, the portal introduced an e-mail service, which is still the site's core offering today. At the same time, editorial content was launched on the site. In 2000, the company went public and five years later was taken over by United Internet AG. Within the Group, Web.de (alongside GMX and Mail.com) is bundled under the "Consumer Applications" segment. Together, the three services have almost 43 million users (2023), around 40 million of whom use the free email service. This is also the reason for the reach of the portal's editorial content. Users come to the site primarily to log into their email accounts, but are also confronted with the news articles. The editorial team currently consists of around 50 employees who create content for Web.de and GMX.

Key Facts

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

Ownership

Ownership StructureWeb.de is part of 1&1 Mail & Media GmbH, which is a subsidiary of 1&1 Mail & Media Applications SE and belongs to the parent company United Internet AG. The main owner of United Internet AG is founder Ralph Dommermuth. Together with his son Philipp, he holds 49% of the shares. Another notable shareholder is Bank of America with just under 5% of the shares.
Voting RightsEach share grants one vote. Resolutions are passed at the Annual General Meeting with a simple majority. Ralph Dommermuth has the personal right to appoint two Supervisory Board members.
Individual Owner
Group / Individual Owner
  • Bank of America

    Bank of America is one of the largest financial institutions in the United States and worldwide. It manages over USD 2.4 trillion in deposits and is considered one of the 30 systemically important banks worldwide. The bank offers a wide range of financial products and services for private customers, small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations. These include banking services, investment solutions and digital banking offerings, among other things.
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  • Philipp Dommermuth

    Philipp Dommermuth is the son of Ralph Dommermuth. He is the founder and owner of hi Immobilien GmbH, which offers property management services. He is also an investor in the construction of an outlet centre in Remscheid Lennep. His shares in United Internet AG are managed together with his father's shares by Ralph Dommermuth GmbH & Co. KG Beteiligungsgesellschaft.
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Media Companies / Groups

Facts

Founding Year1995
Founder
  • Michael Greve
    founded numerous Internet start-ups during and after the dot-com boom. His best-known start-up together with his brother Matthias is Web.de. The portal went public in 2000 and was sold to United Internet five years later. In 2007, Greve founded the venture capital company Kizoo Technology Ventures in Karlsruhe and used his capital for IT investments, for example in the e-learning platform Babbel. This was followed in 2015 by the establishment of the non-profit initiative Forever Healthy Foundation, which aims to extend human life through scientific and technological developments. Since then, his venture capital company has also focussed on investments in the field of biotechnologies.
  • Matthias Greve
    is co-founder of Web.de and brother of Michael Greve. Matthias Greve moved to the United Internet Group in the course of the takeover and was responsible for the Group's portals on the Management Board. In 2008, he left the company to become entrepreneurially active again. This was followed by several start-ups in the hardware sector.
CEO
  • Michael Hagenau
    has been Managing Director of 1&1 Mail & Media Applications SE, a subsidiary of United Internet responsible for the Portals division, since November 2023. Previously, Hagenau was CEO of the online delivery service Delivery Hero and, following the takeover by Takeaway.com, Managing Director for the integration of the German brands into the Dutch group.
Editor-In-Chief
  • Thomas Rebbe
    has been editor-in-chief for the editorial content of Web.de, GMX and 1&1 since 2010. He previously worked as team leader and head of service for the portals and worked for two years in the editorial department of Kabel1.de. Rebbe is also an honorary board member of the United Internet for UNICEF Foundation. The foundation was established in 2006 by Ralph Dommermuth (CEO of United Internet) and Tessa Page (Chairwoman of the Foundation) and supports UNICEF in fundraising with the reach of the portals.
Other Important People
  • Alexander Charles
    has been Chief Product Management Officer of 1&1 Mail and Media Applications SE since 2019 and Managing Director of 1&1 Mail & Media GmbH, which acts as the company with editorial responsibility for Web.de and GMX.
  • Dana Kraft
    responsible for Finance and Human Resources on the Management Board of 1&1 Mail and Media Applications SE and is also Managing Director of 1&1 Mail & Media GmbH, which acts as the company with editorial responsibility for Web.de and GMX.
  • Thomas Ludwig
    responsible for Technology & Development on the Management Board of 1&1 Mail and Media Applications SE and is also Managing Director of 1&1 Mail & Media GmbH, which acts as the company responsible for the editorial content of Web.de and GMX.
Contact1&1 Mail & Media GmbH
Brauerstr. 48
76135 Karlsruhe
impressum@info.web.de
https://www.web.de
Revenue€ 209 Million / USD 219 Million (2022)
Operating Profit€ 81 Million / USD 85 Million (2022)
Advertising (in % of total funding)Missing Data
Market ShareMissing Data
Headlines
Meta DataThe average exchange rate for 2022 of EUR 0.95 was used for the conversion into USD.
The information on sales and profits relates to 1&1 Mail & Media GmbH. Its business model consists primarily of digital services such as e-mail and cloud storage. The data is not available for a precise breakdown of revenue from journalistic activities.
Sources
Documents (PDF)
  • United Internet AG - Konzernabschluss 2023
    File
  • United Internet AG - Satzung
    File
  • United Internet Media GmbH - Liste der Gesellschafter
    File