Mathias Döpfner
Dr Mathias Döpfner studied musicology, German and theatre studies in Frankfurt am Main and jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He received his doctorate from the University of Frankfurt am Main in 1990. He began his journalistic career in 1982 as a music critic for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. After various positions, including FAZ correspondent in Brussels and managing director of a subsidiary of the concert agency Winderstein, Döpfner moved to Gruner + Jahr in 1992. In March 1998, Döpfner became editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Die Welt. In July 2000, he became a member of the board of directors of Axel Springer Verlag. Döpfner has been CEO of Axel Springer SE since January 2002. From 2016 to 2022, he was president of the German Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV). His wealth was estimated by Forbes at over one billion euros at the beginning of 2023.
Business
Media
European Publishers Council (Supervisory Board) (Portugal)
Research
American Academy in Berlin (Member) (Germany)
Education
Blavatnik School of Government (Member) (United Kingdom)
NGO
American Jewish Committee (Member) (USA)
Conference
Sun Valley Conference (participant)
World Economic Forum in Davos (participant)
Bilderberg Conference (member of the Steering Committee)
TOA Open Circle (Chairman)
Scholarship programme
International Journalists' Programme (IJP) e. V. (member of the Board of Trustees)
Family & Friends
Affiliated Interests Family Members Friends
publisher and shareholder at Axel Springer, is the widow of the company's founder Axel Caesar Springer and the godmother of Döpfner's second son.
acquired the Villa Schöningen in Potsdam together with Döpfner. Fischer is a renowned German manager who began his career in investment banking at J.P. Morgan. He moved to Dresdner Bank AG, where he was appointed to the board of directors in 1999 and took over as head of the bank's investment banking division in 2000. In 2003, he became CEO of the Swiss insurance group Winterthur and a member of the management board of its owner Credit Suisse. In 2007, he moved to the management board of the financial investor RHJ International. Fischer is a director and CEO of the BHF Kleinwort Benson Group in Brussels and was chairman of the supervisory board of BHF-BANK in Frankfurt.
is the godfather of Döpfner's youngest son. Von Stuckrad-Barre is a well-known author who, in his latest novel ‘Noch wach?’ (Still awake?), deals with topics such as power structures and the abuse of power. He was a close friend of Döpfner for a time. His book contains obvious parallels to real people such as Döpfner, although Stuckrad-Barre emphasises that it is a fictional story. After the book was published, Stuckrad-Barre ended his friendship with Döpfner. Von Stuckrad-Barre became known for his debut novel ‘Soloalbum’, which was published in 1998, and the film of the same name, which was released in 2003. During his career, he has written for the FAZ, Stern, taz and Welt, and has published 16 books to date. Stuckrad-Barre is also known for his open discussion of his alcohol and cocaine addiction.
is the daughter of Ulrich Weiss, the former CEO of Deutsche Bank, and the wife of Mathias Döpfner. She is a child and adolescent psychotherapist and has published several books.
is a German entrepreneur and partner in Brose Fahrzeugteile. She is also a renowned collector of media art and her private fortune is estimated at over one billion euros. She has built up the ‘Julia Stoschek Collection’, an international private collection of contemporary art with a focus on time-based media. She is also on the board of MoMA PS1, a contemporary art space affiliated with the New York Museum of Modern Art. Stoschek has a son with Döpfer. Her great-grandfather Max Brose was the founder of Brose Fahrzeugteile and a member of the Nazi Party, as well as a Wehrwirtschaftsführer (military economy leader) from 1938 to 1945.
