The Bookseller.com

21st November 2008

Philip Jones

Philip Jones is the managing editor of theBookseller.com. He will blog with links and comment about the book business.

Who is Markus Dohle?

20.05.08

Update as of 1.50pm, 21st May:

The German broadsheet Frankfurter Allgemeine describes Dohle as a "blank page", in a piece helpfully translated by my colleague Anna Richardson. This is perhaps more informative than the view of one Random House author, who called him "a complete production bean counter" in the New York Post.

According to FAZ, Dohle has made a name for himself managing printing companies, but little is known about the "thickness of the umbilical cord that connects him to the book world". Born in Sauerland, and passionate about Westphalia, he is from liberal-catholic stock, has two children, plays tennis and is a fan of the North Sea island Juist.
The FAZ describes him as a "child of the company" - an industrial engineer by trade, who has quickly climbed the career ladder, as he is said to possess the "entrepreneurial gene". Ostrowski says he is "highly intelligent", a stirring entrepreneur, a "specialist of the saturated market", who can push even mature products.
The piece conclues that in a time where the German book market is poised between hope and fear, between Gutenberg and internet, Ostrowski is betting on a "manager-solution": the book is a product, and should be sold as one.
Bertelsmann's Gütersloh HQ is convinced that the books business can attain more than 10% in profit margin. The new man will no doubt share this view.

If you are wondering why we are taking a jigsaw approach to this then it may be helpful to make it clear that Bertelsmann has declined interview requests with its top executives. Ostrowski, who did give an interview with PW, wishes to talk to English-speaking journalists face-to-face, which is fair enough though slightly problematic, (and with copy approval - which is less okay); while Dohle is not giving interviews until he starts in June.

 20th May, 15.00

"Random House names low-profile new CEO" is how CNN chose to headline its report on the appointment of Markus Dohle as chief executive of Bertelsmann's publishing division Random House. It is slightly unfair on the 39-year-old, who has been working at Bertelsmann since he graduated from college in 1994 (his CV follows below). But at the same time it sort of sums things up.

I spoke to a German-based correspondent and she knew little about him - "he's a typical Bertelsmann executive", was the response.

So there seems little doubt that Random House executives on both sides of the pond are likely to be muttering the same question under their worried frowns. According to a piece to be published this week by our US correspondent Gayle Feldman some Random House editors credit Olson with saving them from the extreme number crunching that goes on elsewhere. They will now be more nervous with an unknown in the top-office -- even if, as his boss reckons, he is a "big reader".

According to the New York Observer, Manhattanites had placed their money on another German: Joerg Pfuehl, who heads Random House Germany.

It may not be all bad news: Arvato, of which Arvato Print is a part, has grown sales by more than €1bn since 2003, and the number of employees has grown by 20,000. There is no division within Bertelsmann that has done so well over the same time frame, certainly not Random House and definitely not Direct Group.

But despite the numbers, Bertelsmann was clearly worried: its press email came with not one, but four documents about the move: and this was not including the Terminator style photo (this is far cry from when I first started writing up financial news at The Bookseller when Bertelsmann took weeks to translate one of its financial releases into English).

Perhaps the most interesting, and really the main reason behind this blog, were the answers from Bertelsmann c.e.o. Hartmut Ostrowski to questions posted by a journalist on its own intranet site BeNet (see below). The questions are as interesting as the answers. Ostrowski, lest we forget, was formerly chairman of Arvato.

Dohle is not granting interviews until he officially takes over on 1st June. But I'll update this blog with more detail about the new man in charge of the world's largest trade publisher when I get it.

BeNet: Random House generates the lion’s share of its revenues and earnings with English-language literature in North America – do you really think that a German, let alone one who’s new to publishing, will be accepted there?
Hartmut Ostrowski: At Bertelsmann, executives qualify for a new assignment – especially for such an important one – by their achievements and skills, not by their nationality or birthplace. Markus Dohle will be based in New York, he, his wife and children move there, and he speaks fluent English. Markus has family in the U.S. and he feels very much at home there. Besides, from his business responsibilities to date, Markus is used to working on international level. At this point, he supervises a more international business, with more employees, than he will be handling in future. The fact that he knows Gütersloh and will be making his home in New York from now on is by no means a disadvantage. And in the globalized business world of 2008, I’d say a manager’s background or nationality really plays a negligible role.

BeNet: But Markus Dohle will have to win the hearts and minds of publishers and authors – how is he going to do that?
Hartmut Ostrowski: Markus Dohle will grant the publishers the same independence and publishing freedom as his predecessors did. This autonomy is crucial to the success of Random House – and of Bertelsmann. Markus is a highly motivated entrepreneur, he is a problem-solver, an innovator, a communicator, and very smart. He is used to setting ambitious goals, and achieving them with his team. These are the reasons he has been appointed to head Random House, not because of any book publishing experience he might have. Random House needs a man with his skill set now. But, of course, Random House also needs its outstanding publishers and authors. Everyone will depend on one another. From Dohle’s standpoint, this means that he will pay very close attention to the professional advice, the expertise and the goals of his publishers. In fact, he will likely strengthen their role even further.

BeNet: But a publishing veteran would have brought some experience with the book business to the job, which Markus Dohle lacks . . .
Hartmut Ostrowski: First, Markus Dohle has made some experience in the book business as head of Vereinigte Verlagsauslieferung (VVA) and CEO of Mohn Media Group. He is also a big reader, which gives him a rapport with his new book-publishing colleagues. Second, he contributes his outstanding entrepreneurial skills, his love of innovation, and his purposeful, problem-solving approach to entrepreneurial challenges. These are precisely the traits needed at this time to make Random House – and Bertelsmann – ready for the publishing business of the near- and more distant future. Or put differently, to turn stability into growth. And let’s not forget that Markus Dohle can now count on the experience of 5,700 committed and motivated employees who definitely know how to publish books well. This applies especially for Random House’s executives, and above all to its publishing executives.
 
Markus Dohle CV
1994 - 1995    Assistant to the Managing Director,
Bertelsmann Distribution GmbH
Bertelsmann Medien Service GmbH
Vereinigte Verlagsauslieferung (VVA)
1995 - 1998    Vice President, VVA
1998 - 2002    Head of VVA
Vice President, Bertelsmann Service Group
since 01/2000    Managing Director, Medienvertrieb und Logistik GmbH (MvL)
since 01/2002    Managing Director, Verlegerdienst München GmbH
since 10/2002    Chief Executive Officer, Mohn media Group
since 01/2006    Member of the arvato AG Executive Board

Source: Arvato website

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