Board of Directors
Thomas Rabe

Chief Executive Officer of RTL Group and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Bertelsmann Management SE Executive Board

Thomas Rabe, born in 1965, holds a diploma and a doctorate in economics from the University of Cologne, Germany. He started his career in 1989 at the European Commission in Brussels. From 1990 to 1996 he held various senior positions at Forrester Norall & Sutton (now White & Case) in Brussels, the state privatisation agency Treuhandanstalt, and a venture capital fund in Berlin. In 1996, he joined Cedel International (now Clearstream), where he was appointed CFO and member of the Management Board in 1998.

In 2000, Thomas Rabe became CFO and member of the Executive Committee of RTL Group. In March 2003, he was also appointed Head of the Corporate Centre. With effect from 1 January 2006, Thomas Rabe was appointed to the Executive Board of Bertelsmann AG as the Group’s CFO. From 2006 to 2008, he was also responsible for Bertelsmann AG’s music business.

Since 1 January 2012, Thomas Rabe has been CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Bertelsmann.

In May 2019, Thomas Rabe was appointed member of the Supervisory Board of Adidas AG and has served as Chairman since 11 August 2020.

On 1 April 2019, Thomas Rabe was appointed CEO of RTL Group. From August 2022 until December 2023, he was Chairman of the Management Board of RTL Deutschland.

Nationality: German
First appointed: 12 December 2005 (effective 1 January 2006)
Re-elected: 24 April 2024
Mandates in listed companies: Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Adidas AG, Herzogenaurach

RTL is Europe’s leading entertainment brand standing for entertainment, independent journalism, inspiration, energy and attitude. With our TV channels, streaming services, radio stations and online platforms in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Hungary and Luxembourg, we reach millions of people across Europe every day. The RTL brand is owned by RTL Group.

About RTL Group

RTL Group is a leading entertainment company across broadcast, streaming, content and digital, with interests in 60 television channels, seven streaming services and 37 radio stations. The Group’s families of TV channels are either number one or number two in six European countries, while RTL Group owns or has interests in radio stations in France, Germany, Spain and Luxembourg. RTL Deutschland is the Group’s largest business unit and Germany’s first cross-media champion, operating across TV, streaming, radio, digital and publishing. RTL Group's streaming services include RTL+ in Germany and Hungary, Videoland in the Netherlands and M6+ in France. Fremantle is one of the world’s largest creators, producers and distributors of scripted and unscripted content, responsible for more than 11,000 hours of programming per year, alongside an international network of teams operating in 27 countries. The streaming tech company Bedrock, the ad-tech company Smartclip and the social media company We Are Era are also owned by RTL Group. As a market leader, RTL Group strives to foster alliances and partnerships within the European media industry, for example by building a one-stop advertising sales house in Germany with Ad Alliance and driving international advertising sales with RTL AdAlliance. Bertelsmann is the majority shareholder of RTL Group, which is listed on the Luxembourg and Frankfurt stock exchanges and in the MDAX stock index.

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