Julia Jäkel (born November 13, 1971, in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

) is a German business executive and publisher. She serves as

non-executive director A non-executive director (abbreviated to non-exec, NED or NXD), independent director or external director is a member of the board of directors of a corporation, such as a company, cooperative or non-government organization, but not a member of ...

of several companies. From 2012 to 2021, Jäkel was Chief Executive Officer of

Gruner + Jahr Gruner + Jahr is a publishing house headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. The company was founded in 1965 by , , and Gerd Bucerius. From 1969 to 1973, Bertelsmann acquired a majority share in the company and gradually increased it over time. Af ...

and a member of the Bertelsmann Group Management Committee. She also chaired the Bertelsmann Content Alliance. Jäkel is a widely known promoter of diverse

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...

Education

Jäkel studied history, political science, and economics at

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. She holds an MPhil in

International relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the Scientific method, scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities betwe ...

from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Career

In 1997, Jäkel completed the Bertelsmann Entrepreneurs Program and joined Gruner + Jahr, where she rose through the ranks. In 2012, Jäkel was appointed to the

Executive Board A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

, taking responsibility for the German business, and a few months later, she became chief executive officer of Gruner + Jahr. At the beginning of her term, she discontinued the

Financial Times Deutschland The ''Financial Times Deutschland'' was a German-language financial newspaper based in Hamburg, Germany, published by Bertelsmann's Gruner + Jahr newspaper and magazine division. The daily contained four sections: Business, Politics & Economy, Fi ...

of which she had been a member of the founding team for five years. She reorganized the portfolio, focusing on Germany and France. Jäkel led the

digital transformation Digital transformation is the adoption of digital technology by an organization to digitize non-digital products, services or operations. The goal for its implementation is to increase value through innovation, invention, customer experience or e ...

, promoted creativity and multiplied digital revenues. She broke up hierarchies and outdated management structures, and made the publisher more efficient. Jäkel became a member of the Bertelsmann Group Management Committee in 2013 and chaired the Bertelsmann Content Alliance right from its start in 2019, coordinating all content businesses of Bertelsmann in Germany. In 2021, Jäkel left both Gruner + Jahr and Bertelsmann at her own request. She received awards for her entrepreneurial and journalistic engagement. In 2021, Jäkel was appointed to the Supervisory Boards of and

Holtzbrinck Publishing Group Holtzbrinck Publishing Group () is a privately held German company based in Stuttgart which owns publishing companies worldwide. Through Macmillan Publishers, it is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies. In 2015, it m ...

. Since January 2022, she has been a member of the European Advisory Board of

Google Cloud Google Cloud Platform offers numerous integrated cloud-computing services, including compute, network, and storage. Products Past and present products under the Google Cloud platform include: Current * Google Cloud Datastore, a NoSQL data ...

Other boards

* since 2015:

University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf The University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (german: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE)) is the teaching hospital of the University of Hamburg and the largest hospital in Hamburg, Germany. The UKE has 1,738 beds and 121 day-care p ...

* since 2018: Elbphilharmonie Hamburg * since 2019:

DFL Foundation The DFL Foundation (german: DFL Stiftung) is a charitable foundation dedicated to social projects. It was founded in January 2009 by the Deutsche Fußball Liga and Die Liga – Fußballverband, under the name Bundesliga Foundation (german: Bundesl ...

(German Football League Foundation) * since 2021:

Deutsche Presse-Agentur Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (dpa) is a German news agency founded in 1949. Based in Hamburg, it has grown to be a major worldwide operation serving print media, radio, television, online, mobile phones, and national news agencies. News is avai ...

(German Press Agency)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jäkel, Julia 1971 births Living people German business executives German chief executives Alumni of the University of Cambridge 21st-century German businesspeople 21st-century German women