Former Arista Records boss and BMG co-chairman Egmont 'Monti' Lüftner has died at the age of 77 in Munich, after being hit by a truck at a recycling depot in the city.
Lüftner was born in Austria and in 1959 formed his own record company, Ariola, in Austria and Germany. He built up the company in Europe and the US before going on to work in a number of other high profile industry positions. In 1978 he joined the board of then German-owned BMG, and in 1979 became chairman of Arista, discovering acts such as Peter Alexander and Boney M along the way. Both Ariola and Arista became BMG divisions in the eighties, and by 1990 Lüftner was Vice Chairman of the major, and Worldwide President, A&R boss and CEO of its BMG Ariola division in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The following year he left to found another company, Munich-based Monti Media Consulting.
The founders of former BMG owners Bertelsmann, Reinhard Mohn and wife Liz, have released a statement expressing their distress at their friend's demise: "Monti Lüftner will always be a part of the history of our company" they said, "he was a sought after advisor and good friend to all of us. We mourn a wonderful person".
Hartmut Ostrowski, CEO of Bertelsmann AG, says of his former colleague: "Hardly anyone else was able to combine artistic creativity with entrepreneurial skill as successfully as he did. He supported me personally as well as the company with his advice right up to the end. We will miss him."
Lüftner is survived by a fifteen year old daughter. He was not married.