About

Since its founding in 1946, Axel Springer SE has grown into Europe’s leading digital publisher and currently employs over 15,000 people in more than 40 countries earning over €3bn in total annual revenues. In 2012, Dr Konrad Wartenberg became the multinational media group’s general counsel, a newly created position at the time. When taking on the role, Dr Wartenberg became responsible for Springer’s two legal teams – one that deals with business operations and one that is responsible for the central areas as well as corporate law. A senior executive at the company said at the time of Dr Wartenberg’s arrival that, ‘with the new position of the general counsel, we are now reacting to the increasingly complex legal challenges that require an overarching coordination and leadership’. Since taking this distinguished position in Germany’s in-house legal market, Dr Wartenberg has overseen a number of landmark deals for Springer, namely the sale of some of its portfolio of magazines to Funke Mediengruppe for €920m in 2013, the purchase of website Business Insider in 2015 for around $440m and, in the same year, the purchase of the remaining 30% stake in Axel Springer Digital Classifieds from General Atlantic. His achievements at Springer are even more impressive given the fact that Dr Wartenberg was a newcomer to the media sector before his 2012 arrival. Before joining Springer, he was head of legal at luxury car manufacturer Porsche in Stuttgart and worked in senior legal positions at the German multinational food chain Metro as well as international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.