Overview
- The supervisory board appointed Thomas Coesfeld, 35, to succeed Thomas Rabe as group CEO effective January 1, 2027.
- Thomas Rabe will remain in office through the end of 2026 after 15 years as chief executive and has pledged a smooth handover.
- Coesfeld will continue to run the music division BMG in personal union when he becomes group chief.
- Clément Schwebig, most recently an executive at Warner Bros. Discovery and a former RTL manager, will take over as RTL CEO in May 2026.
- The decision returns control to the owner family for the first time in nearly half a century after an internal succession process that also considered his brother, Carsten Coesfeld.