DirectGroup Bertelsmann was a division of

Bertelsmann AG Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA () is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, and is also active in the service sector and ...

and operated

book sales club A book sales club is a subscription-based method of selling and purchasing books. It is more often called simply a book club, a term that is also used to describe a book discussion club, which can cause confusion. How book sales clubs work Each me ...

online shop Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librar ...

chains and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

s in 8 countries when it was disbanded as a division in 2011. Its more than 15 million customers have generated sales of €1.245 billion in 2009. The company was formed in July 2000 and was led by CEO Fernando Carro.

Management

The Direct Group Executive Board consisted of: * Fernando Carro (Chief Executive Officer) * Gerd Bührig (Executive Vice President) * Niklas Darijtschuk (Chief Financial Officer) * Jörg Hagen (French-speaking countries) {{Bertelsmann Bertelsmann subsidiaries Mass media companies of Germany Book publishing companies of Germany Publishing companies established in 2000 Mass media in Gütersloh