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Hartwich Masuch to step down as BMG CEO, replaced by CFO Thomas Coesfeld
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 31 January 2023
Hartwig Masuch has announced that he will step down as CEO of BMG at the end of this year. He will be replaced by current CFO Thomas Coesfeld.
Masuch has been in the role since the current iteration of BMG was launched in 2008, and has worked for parent company Bertelsmann for more than 30 years. He will continue to work for Bertelsmann in an advisory role following his departure.
“After 32 years at Bertelsmann and more than fourteen years at BMG, now is the right time for me to hand over the reins to a new generation”, says Masuch. “I am convinced that the company will be in the best hands with Thomas Coesfeld and BMG’s outstanding, highly motivated global leadership team”.
“As our annual results will show”, he goes on, “the company is in excellent shape both creatively and financially. I look forward to a seamless transition by the end of the year. I am sure that under Thomas’s leadership, BMG’s core values of service, fairness and transparency will continue to evolve and flourish, leading the company to even greater success”.
Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe adds: “Hartwig Masuch has shaped the music business at Bertelsmann and far beyond over three decades. Since 2008, he has built the new BMG from scratch with a completely new business model that focuses on the needs of artists and songwriters, based on its core values of service, fairness and transparency”.
“The new BMG works with many of the world’s most successful artists and songwriters”, he continues. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Hartwig for the services he has rendered to music, to BMG, and to Bertelsmann – and for preparing the transition to his successor, which will be finalised at the end of the year”.
“I am excited to see the next phase of BMG being rung in with the appointment of Thomas Coesfeld as CEO”, he continues. “He will ensure that the needs of artists, songwriters and rights holders remain at the core. BMG has substantial investment funds at its disposal as part of Bertelsmann’s Boost strategy. I wish Thomas Coesfeld every success and look forward to working even more closely with him from next year”.
Meanwhile, Coesfeld himself says: “Under Hartwig Masuch’s leadership, BMG has delivered an impressive growth story and developed into a modern music company in which data, technology and services play a key role”.
“My aim is to continue this success story together with the company’s top management and its more than 1000 employees worldwide”, he adds, “and to leverage the enormous creative and entrepreneurial potential of the music industry for Bertelsmann. Music has played a vital role at Bertelsmann since 1956. I look forward to leading this legacy into the future”.
Coesfeld joined BMG in 2016 and became CFO in 2021. He will officially take up the CEO role on 1 Jan 2024.
