Julian Reichelt

Logo of Julian Reichelt

Julian Reichelt was editor-in-chief of Bild, Germany's highest-circulation tabloid newspaper, until 2021. His tenure ended abruptly following allegations of abuse of power and inappropriate behavior, leading to his departure from Axel Springer. After leaving Bild, Reichelt founded Rome Medien GmbH and established the format Achtung, Reichelt! in 2022 with financial support from entrepreneur Frank Gotthardt.
Reichelt subsequently entered into a business partnership with entrepreneur Frank Gotthardt, who became the majority shareholder and financier of Nius, the alternative media platform on which Achtung, Reichelt! is now hosted as one of its core formats. The show appears several times weekly on YouTube, the Nius website, and other digital channels, combining Reichelt's personal commentary on current political events with interviews and discussions, characterized by a deliberately provocative and controversial right-wing conservative tone.
The format is highly polarizing: critics accuse Reichelt of right-wing populism and oversimplification, while supporters appreciate his unconventional, oppositional stance toward traditional media outlets. The content is migration-critical, addresses economic policy issues including inflation and deindustrialization, and frequently incorporates positions and rhetoric associated with the far right.

Media Outlets

Facts

Affiliated Interests Family & Friends
  • Mathias Döpfner
    Mathias Döpfner was a long-time confidant and close partner of Julian Reichelt. As members of the executive board of Axel Springer SE, they were close both professionally and privately for many years, and Reichelt is considered Döpfner's protégé. Döpfner defended Reichelt against initial allegations of abuse of power and only broke with him publicly under immense public pressure.
  • Frank Gotthardt
    Frank Gotthardt is a German software entrepreneur and majority shareholder of Nius, the alternative media platform that hosts Achtung, Reichelt!. With a fortune estimated at several hundred million euros derived from his medical software company Compugroup, Gotthardt provided early financial support to Reichelt's media ventures, initially renting office space to Rome Medien GmbH. As financier and controlling shareholder of VIUS SE & Co. KGaA, which operates Nius and Achtung, Reichelt!, Gotthardt plays a central role in developing what is widely viewed as an attempt to create a German version of Fox News. Though politically aligned with the conservative camp and describing his media investments as "civic responsibility," critics see Gotthardt's involvement as part of a broader right-wing populist media expansion, which also includes stakes in the Austrian platform exxpress.at. Beyond media, Gotthardt is honorary chairman of the CDU's Economic Council in Rhineland-Palatinate and is the main shareholder of the Kölner Haie ice hockey team.
  • Vera Regensburger
    Vera Regensburger is an Austrian manager and lawyer who is considered a close confidante of Sebastian Kurz. From 2017 to 2019, she headed the ÖVP's politics and strategy department and worked in the Austrian Chancellery until 2022. After moving into the business world, she became managing director of AS2K Beteiligungs GmbH, the investment company owned by former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Alexander Schütz. Her role in the media sector is characterized by her senior positions in right-wing conservative portals: In May 2024, she became managing director of the Austrian portal Exxpress.at, and since 2025 she has also been managing director of Vius SE & Co. KGaA in Berlin. Vius is the parent company of the German portal Nius, which is run by Julian Reichelt, financed by German IT entrepreneur Frank Gotthardt, and now holds a majority stake in Exxpress. Regensburg's career thus reflects the shift from the political arena in Austria to the management of media projects closely linked to the networks of Kurz, Schütz, and Gotthardt.
  • Eva Hieblinger-Schütz
    Eva Hieblinger-Schütz is an Austrian lawyer, former politician of the ÖVP, and founder and publisher of the right-wing populist portal Exxpress, in which VIUS SE & Co. KgaA, owned by Julian Reichelt and Frank Gotthard, now holds a majority stake of around 77%. After studying law and working as a lawyer, she initially became involved with the NEOS party and then moved to the ÖVP in 2017. From 2018 to 2019, she was deputy chief of staff in the Ministry of Finance under Hartwig Löger and office manager for Secretary General Thomas Schmid. Politically, a possible connection between the large donations made by her husband Alexander Schütz to the ÖVP and his wife's cabinet position was repeatedly discussed, especially by opposition parties and the media. They spoke of a “connection” or proximity to Sebastian Kurz's inner circle, but were unable to provide clear evidence of direct influence or a formal link between donations and positions. Hieblinger-Schütz resigned after the end of the turquoise-blue government and expressed conservative views, for example on linking voting rights to tax payments. In March 2021, she founded the right-wing populist online media outlet Exxpress with Richard Schmitt as publisher and largest shareholder through her investment company, with the aim of offering an alternative to “left-wing mainstream media.” She has also been editor-in-chief since January 2024. At the beginning of 2025, her share was diluted to around 16% after the German Vius Group (parent company of Nius) joined, but she remains the second-largest shareholder. Her husband Alexander Schütz also holds a small share of 1,15% of Exxpress.
Data Publicly Available
ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc.
Headlines
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The information comes primarily from publicly available registers and media reports. Some information may be out of date.

Sources
Documents (PDF)
  • Gründung Rome Medien GmbH
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  • Gründung Rome Medien GmbH
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  • Gesellschaftsvertrag Vius Management SE
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  • Gründung Vius SE & CO. KGaA
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  • Liste der Gesellschafter Rome Medien GmbH 2022
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  • Liste der Gesellschafter Rome Medien GmbH 2024
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  • Umwandlung der Nius SE zur VIUS Management SE
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  • Verschmelzungsvertrag Rome Medien GmbH und Vius SE & CO. KGaA
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  • Konzernabschluss Vius SE & CO. KGaA 2023
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  • Änderung des Gesellschaftsvertrag Vius SE & CO. KGaA 2023
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