Thomas Rabe

Thomas Rabe (born August 6, 1965, in Luxembourg City) is a German business executive. He is currently the chairman of the German sportswear brand Adidas. In 2006, he was appointed to the Bertelsmann executive board, of which he has been chairman and chief executive officer since 2012. Under his leadership, the group has become more international, more digital and more diversified. In particular, he has advanced the business with music rights and the educational division. Additionally, Rabe was appointed chief executive officer of RTL Group in 2019.

Early life and education Rabe was born in 1965 in Luxembourg and grew up in Brussels, where his father worked as a civil servant in the European Coal and Steel Community from 1968. He attended the European School and as a youth was a bass player in a punk band. After earning a degree in business administration in 1989, he obtained his doctorate in economics, with a doctoral thesis on "Liberalization and Deregulation in the European Single Market for Insurance" in 1995.

In addition to his native language German, Rabe speaks English, French, Dutch, and Spanish.

Career Rabe began his career at the European Commission in Brussels. At the commission, from 1989 he worked in the Directorate-General for Financial Institutions and Corporate Law. which today belongs to White & Case. There he managed client accounts from the European Union, the United States and Japan. In this capacity, among other responsibilities, he was in charge of the privatization of the assets of the Ministry for State Security and the National People's Army of the former GDR. In 1993, he was promoted to head of the Controlling Department. In subsequent years, he prepared the merger of Cedel International with Deutsche Börse Clearing into Clearstream. Five years later, Bertelsmann brought him back to Gütersloh. Rabe was appointed as the group's CFO on January 1, 2006. At the same time, he was responsible for Sony BMG until 2008. In addition, the group established its own investment fund in Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments. Later, Rabe organized the return of Bertelsmann into the music business. His recruitment of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. as an investor in BMG Rights Management was seen as a key decision for the music company's future development. but Rabe ultimately stayed with Bertelsmann.

CEO of Bertelsmann, 2012–present After Hartmut Ostrowski announced his retirement as chairman and CEO in 2011, Rabe was declared his successor, effective January 1, 2012. With Rabe's appointment, Bertelsmann ushered in a strategy change towards stronger growth. Under his leadership, Bertelsmann experienced increased growth into Brazil, China, and India, and consolidated this development by bundling these activities in the Bertelsmann Investments division. Also, Rabe managed to complete the merger of Penguin Books with Random House to create the world's largest trade book publisher, and the purchase of the remaining shares in Gruner + Jahr. He built the education division into an additional pillar of the business, which today operates as the Bertelsmann Education Group. He consolidated the printing operations into the Bertelsmann Printing Group. Thus, by 2016, he had expanded the number of corporate divisions to eight.

Rabe's contract as chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann's executive board runs until 2021. As CEO of RTL Group, he oversees the company's TV unit; he is a member of the board of directors of Penguin Random House, among others.

Other activities Corporate boards Adidas, chairman of the supervisory board (since 2020) Penguin Random House, chairman of the supervisory board (since 2018) Gruner + Jahr, Member of the supervisory board (since 2012) RTL Group, chief executive officer (since 2019) and Member of the Board of Directors (since 2012) Springer Science+Business Media, Member of supervisory board (since 2010)

Non-profit boards Federation of German Industries (BDI), Member of the Presidium (2017–2018) Baden-Badener Unternehmer-Gespräche (BBUG), Member of the Board of Trustees

Personal life Rabe lives in Gütersloh and Berlin and is married to a neurologist. The couple collects modern art and, in 2015, purchased a Henry van de Velde-designed villa in Tervuren near Brussels.

Rabe is a member of the Catholic fraternity AV Hansea-Berlin zu Köln.