Franca Lehfeldt (born 12 September 1989) is a German businesswoman, journalist, author, and former

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

. Most-recently she was chief reporter of

Die Welt (, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...

(

Axel Springer SE Axel Springer SE () is a European multinational corporation, multinational mass media, mass and online media company, based in Berlin, Germany. The company offers printing and publishing of advertisements, digital classifieds portfolio, marketi ...

) until her resignation in October 2023 to pursue self-employment. She previously held a variety of positions at

RTL Group RTL Group S.A. ("Radio Télévision Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate office in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 56 television channels and 36 radio stations in Germany, France an ...

. Lehfeldt is the wife of

Christian Lindner Christian Wolfgang Lindner (; born 7 January 1979) is a German former politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who was the Federal Minister of Finance from 2021 until his dismissal in 2024 during the 2024 German government crisis. Servi ...

who served as Federal Minister of Finance of Germany until November 2024.

Early life and education

Lehfeldt was born on September 12, 1989 in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

West-Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

to businessman Claus-Holger Lehfeldt, who was active in the real estate and private equity industry through Lehfeldt GmbH. Her father was born illegitimately through an affair his mother had during the Bombing of Hamburg in 1943. She completed her

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

at the Castle Neubeuern boarding-school in 2009. She then studied

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

and

hotel management A hotel manager, hotelier, or lodging manager is a person who manages the operation of a hotel, motel, resort, or other lodging-related establishment. Management of a hotel operation includes, but is not limited to: management of hotel staff, ...

at Glion Institute of Higher Education in

Glion Glion () is a village in the municipality of Montreux in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. The village is located 700 m.a.s.l., overlooking Lake Geneva. The position of this village in Montreux and the Chauderon Gorge made it a touristic destin ...

, Switzerland and graduated with a

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

in 2012. She also holds a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

strategic marketing Marketing strategy refers to efforts undertaken by an Organizational structure, organization to increase its sales and achieve competitive advantage. In other words, it is the method of advertising a company's products to the public through an est ...

from the International School of Management since 2014.

Career

After completing professional studies at the RTL journalism school, Lehfeldt began to work as a reporter for

. In April 2021, she was promoted to chief reporter of political magazines. She was employed at infoNetwork GmbH, a subsidiary of

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

, and worked at the headquarters in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany. In 2022, she became chief reporter for

(

), a position she held until 2023 when she made public to enter self-employment by founding an agency for communication and marketing.

Personal life

On July 7, 2022, Lehfeldt married

(10 years her elder), on the island of Sylt, Germany. The wedding was attended by several well-known people including

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Ge ...

, Marco Buschmann, Wolfgang Kubicki, and

Armin Laschet Armin Laschet (; born 18 February 1961) is a German politician who served as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 June 2017 to 26 October 2021. He served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 22 January 2021 t ...

. The festivities also made headlines for being "on the expenditure of the tax payers", however was entirely financed privately with exception of additional security measures. As of 2023, they reside in

, Germany.

Literature

* Nena Brockhaus, Franca Lehfeldt: Alte weise Männer: Hommage an eine bedrohte Spezies. Gräfe und Unzer, München 2023, (in German)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehfeldt, Franca 1989 births Living people German women journalists German journalists German women television presenters RTL Group people 21st-century German businesspeople