[Vision2020] Correction

Mon Jun 16 22:14:44 PDT 2014

Random House did not publish Nazi propaganda.  It was purchased in 1998 by a
major German publishing corporation, C. Bertelsmann Verlag, who did publish
Nazi material.  I apologize for not independently verify the links in the
previous article.

Rose Huskey

History

1835 to 2000

The C. Bertelsmann Verlag was founded as a publishing house and print shop
in July 1835 by Carl Bertelsmann. At first Bertelsmann concentrated on
Christian songs and books. In 1851, led by Carl Bertelsmann's son Heinrich,
the company began publishing novels. During the following years Bertelsmann
expanded steadily. By 1939 the publishing house employed 401 people. During
World War II <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II> , Bertelsmann was
the biggest single producer of Nazi propaganda. Its owner, Heinrich Mohn, is
said to have belonged to a group that donated money to the Nazi squadron SS
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schutz_Staffel> .[3]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann#cite_note-3>  At the end of World
War II <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II> , the publishing house
was closed for some time because of illegal paper-trading. During the Nazi
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazism>  period, it published books by Nazi
authors such as Will Vesper <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Vesper>  (who
did the commemorative speech at the 1933 book burning
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_burning> ) and Hans Grimm
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Grimm> . In 1947, the company was
re-founded by Reinhard Mohn, fifth generation of the Bertelsmann family. In
2002 a commission appointed by the company itself found that it had
co-operated closely with the Nazis during the war, and had also used Jewish
prisoners in the form of slave labor.[4]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann#cite_note-4> 

 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mohn-bueste-gt.jpg>
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Mohn-bueste-gt.jpg/
220px-Mohn-bueste-gt.jpg

 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mohn-bueste-gt.jpg>
http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.24wmf8/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.p
ng

A 1986 bust of Reinhard Mohn, on display in Stadtmuseum Gütersloh
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadtmuseum_G%C3%BCtersloh> 

In the 1950s, Bertelsmann expanded with the bookclub Bertelsmann Leserring
(Book Club) and entered the music market with the founding of the LP label
Ariola Records <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariola_Records>  in 1958. In
1964 Bertelsmann entered the movie market with the purchase of the Ufa
Filmproduktionsgesellschaft. It sold Ufa's cinema chain in the 1970s. In
1969, Bertelsmann bought into the Gruner und Jahr
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruner_%2B_Jahr>  publishing house
(newspapers, magazines) and took majority ownership in 1973.

Since the 1980s, Bertelsmann has expanded internationally: in 1979 it bought
the American Arista <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arista_Records>  label, in
1980 Bantam Books <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantam_Books> , in 1986 the
label RCA Victor <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_Records>  and the
publishing house Doubleday
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubleday_%28publisher%29> . It has
distributed Windham Hill Records
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windham_Hill_Records>  since 1989. In 1992 it
acquired 50% of Windham Hill Records and in 1996 it took full control.
During this period the activities in the music market were bundled into the
label BMG <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMG> .

In 1993, Reinhard Mohn <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Mohn>  as
owner of Bertelsmann moved 68.8% of his Bertelsmann AG stock over to the
Bertelsmann Foundation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann_Foundation>
. As of 2006, the Mohn family still owns 74.9 of Bertelsmann's capital, in
addition of the Bertelsmann foundation.

>From 1995 to 2000 Bertelsmann had a major Internet service provider
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_service_provider>  (and associated
content) joint venture with AOL <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL>  that
operated throughout Europe.

In 1995 the Ufa Film- und Fernseh-GmbH merged with CLT
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnie_Luxembourgeoise_de_T%C3%A9l%C3%A9dif
fusion> , Luxembourg. The result was known as RTL Group
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTL_Group> , the biggest private radio and TV
broadcaster in Europe.

In 1998 Thomas Middelhoff <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Middelhoff>
became CEO of Bertelsmann. He bought the Random House
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_House>  publishing house and
concentrated the group's worldwide book publishing operations under this
label.

In 1999, Bertelsmann launched bol.com, the internet book retailer.

2000 to 2010

 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bertlesman-tower.jpg>
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Bertlesman-tower.jp
g/220px-Bertlesman-tower.jpg

 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bertlesman-tower.jpg>
http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.24wmf8/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.p
ng

The Bertelsmann Building <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann_Building>
in New York City, Bertelsmann's North American headquarters

In 2000, Bookspan was created as a joint-venture between Time Warner
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner>  and Bertelsmann until 2007 when
Bertelsmann took over complete ownership.

In February 2001, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupe_Bruxelles_Lambert> , headed by Albert
Frère <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Fr%C3%A8re> , purchased 25% of
Bertelsmann AG. André Desmarais
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Desmarais> , President and Chief
Executive Officer, Power Corporation of Canada, was named to the board. In
July 2002, the CEO Thomas Middelhoff left the company because of
disagreements concerning the company's strategy, in particular relating to
his plans to float the company's share on the stockmarkets.

In 2002 Bertelsmann admitted that they lied about their involvement with
Adolf Hitler <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler>  and the Nazi
party, which included making profits from slave labour and publishing
propaganda. The revelations came to light during their takeover of US book
publisher Random House <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_House>  in 1998;
Bertelsmann used a revised account of their Nazi past to smooth the deal.[5]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann#cite_note-5> 

In 2003, the new CEO Gunter Thielen
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunter_Thielen>  expanded the music branch BMG
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMG>  with the buying of Zomba Records
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zomba_Records> .

In 2004, BMG set up a joint-venture with Sony Music
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Music>  to create Sony BMG
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG> , reducing the Big Five of music
companies to the Big Four <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_music_market>
. BMG Music Publishing <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMG_Music_Publishing> ,
the world's third largest music publisher, remained wholly owned by
Bertelsmann at the time, but was sold to Universal Music Publishing
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Music_Publishing>  in 2006.

Also in 2004, the London Borough of Camden
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Borough_of_Camden> , England, brought
anti-social behaviour orders
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-social_behaviour_order>  (ASBOs) against
Sony Music UK <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony>  and BMG Entertainment for
alleged fly posting <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_posting> . Illegal fly
posting by the two companies is thought to save them £8 million a year in
advertising costs in Camden and cost the Borough £250,000 to clean up.
Failing to comply with an ASBO can result in a jail sentence of up to 5
years.

In July 2006 Bertelsmann AG purchased back 25% of own company from Groupe
Bruxelles Lambert <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupe_Bruxelles_Lambert> .

As of September 1, 2007, Bertelsmann agreed to pay music publishers $130
million to settle a copyright infringement lawsuit brought on by its deal
with Napster.[6] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann#cite_note-6> 

On January 1, 2008, Hartmut Ostrowski
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartmut_Ostrowski>  became the new Chairman
and CEO of Bertelsmann, replacing Gunter Thielen.[7]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann#cite_note-7> 

On April 23, 2008, the company announced that it planned to publish a
one-volume encyclopedia in September using content from the German-language
Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Wikipedia> . The volume is
sold since September 15, 2008 and includes abbreviated entries for the
50,000 most commonly used search terms of the prior two years.[8]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann#cite_note-8> 

On October 1, 2008 Bertelsmann completed the sale of its 50% stake in Sony
BMG to Sony Corporation of America
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Corporation_of_America> . Sony has since
renamed its now wholly owned music business to Sony Music Entertainment.
These two divestitures marked the end of the Bertelsmann Music Group
division and the selected assets that Bertelsmann decided to retain from
these sell-offs will be the basis of a forthcoming BMG branded division, BMG
Rights Management, which will focus on building, managing and marketing
artist rights.

On October 3, 2009, Reinhard Mohn died at age 88.

2010 to present

On October 10, 2011, it was announced that Thomas Rabe would be elevated
from CFO to CEO, succeeding Hartmut Ostrowski
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartmut_Ostrowski>  from January 1, 2012.[9]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann#cite_note-9> 

On August 20, 2012, Bertelsmann changed its legal form from "Bertelsmann AG"
to "Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA", a partnership limited by shares (KGaA
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_partnership#Germany> ). KGaA is a
proven legal form for businesses owned by families or foundations that is
widely used in Germany.

In October 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks with rival conglomerate
Pearson plc <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearson_plc> , over the
possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Random House
and Penguin Group <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Group> . The houses
are considered two of the "Big Six" publishing companies.[10]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann#cite_note-10> 

Operations

See also: List of assets owned by Bertelsmann
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Bertelsmann> 

 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bertelsmann_Building.JPG>
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Bertelsmann_Buildin
g.JPG/300px-Bertelsmann_Building.JPG

 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bertelsmann_Building.JPG>
http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.24wmf8/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.p
ng

The current Bertelsmann headquarters in Gütersloh
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCtersloh> , Germany

Bertelsmann is currently organized into the following six divisions:

*	Corporate: Comprising the companies corporate center functions and
corporate investments, such as the VC arm BDMI, the BMG
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMG_Rights_Management>  music business and the
Direct Group <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Group>  business area
surrounding bookstores and e-commerce activities
*	RTL Group <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTL_Group> , Europe's
biggest broadcaster of radio and television, which is also the parent to the
FremantleMedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FremantleMedia>  movie and TV
production enterprise, the largest of its kind outside Hollywood
*	Gruner + Jahr <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruner_%2B_Jahr> , one
of the biggest magazine publishing houses in Europe
*	Penguin Random House
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Random_House> , the world's largest
general interest trade book publishing company
*	Arvato <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvato_services> , an
international media and communications service provider
*	Be Printers
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Be_Printers&action=edit&redlink=1
> , an international group of companies offering printing solutions and
communications services

BMG Rights Management replaced the music publishing and recorded music
business <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann_Music_Group> ,
concentrating on music rights management. Together with its five major
divisions Bertelsmann holds assets in more than 200 companies and
enterprises worldwide. Direct Group
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Group>  was disbanded as a separate
corporate entity in June 2011, its businesses subsequently being transferred
to the Corporate Investments division in Bertelsmann's Gütersloh corporate
headquarters.

Ownership

Bertelsmann is not publicly listed and is majority owned (77.4%) by the
Bertelsmann Foundation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann_Foundation>
, a non-profit organisation and political think tank set up by the Mohn
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Mohn>  family, which in turn privately
owns the remaining 22.6%.[11]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann#cite_note-11>  Albert Frère
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Fr%C3%A8re> , a Belgian industrialist,
owned 25% of Bertelsmann until 2006.

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