Thomas Ebeling (born February 9, 1959, in Hanover) is a German executive and the former CEO of

ProSiebenSat.1 Media ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE (officially abbreviated as P7S1, formerly ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG) is a German mass media and digital company based in Unterföhring near Munich. It operates in three segments: Entertainment, Dating and Commerce & Venture ...

and

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical company, pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland. Novartis is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and was the eighth largest by re ...

. Thomas Ebeling studied psychology in Hamburg. After graduating in 1987, he started at

Reemtsma Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH is one of the largest tobacco and cigarette manufacturing companies in Europe and a subsidiary of Imperial Brands. The company’s headquarters are in Hamburg, Germany. History Reemtsma was founded in 1910 in ...

. In 1991, he switched to

Pepsi-Cola Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

Germany as a Marketing Manager. From 1994, he served as the National Sales and Franchise Director responsible for Pepsi-Cola's retail and hospitality sales. In 1996, he became General Manager of Pepsi-Cola Germany and switched to

in 1997 as General Manager of Novartis Nutrition for Germany and Austria. In 1998, Ebeling took over the global leadership of Novartis's Nutrition Division. He became a member of Novartis's executive management in 1998. From 2000 to October 2007, he was responsible as

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) for Novartis's global pharmaceutical business. In October 2007, he became CEO of the Novartis Consumer Health division. Ebeling was the CEO of

from March 1, 2009, to February 22, 2018. Among other things, Ebeling increased the share value of the broadcasting group from 0.80 Euros to over 50 Euros at times and brought the media company into the

DAX The DAX (''Deutscher Aktienindex'' (German stock index); ) is a stock market index consisting of the 40 major German blue chip companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It is a total return index. Prices are taken from the Xetra t ...

. At the time of his departure, the share price was 33 Euros. The manager established a diversification strategy at ProSiebenSat.1 and was the first to use the group's free advertising space to promote digital startup companies. In return, the media conglomerate received shares in sales revenues or company stakes. E-commerce companies like Flaconi and Amorelie became successful due to this strategy. From 2011 to 2016, Ebeling consistently led the corporation to new record results. Under his leadership, the company invested in the comparison portal Verivox in 2015 and entered the dating industry surprisingly in 2016 with a high investment in the ParshipMeet Group. Although his contract term was extended prematurely to 2019 in July 2015, he left the company on February 22, 2018, after making derogatory remarks about viewers.

Supervisory and Advisory Boards

From 2012 to 2019, Ebeling served as a member of the Supervisory Board of Bayer AG. Additionally, from 2013 to 2016, he held a position as a member of the Board of Directors for the

Lonza Group Lonza Group AG is a Swiss multinational manufacturing company for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and nutrition sectors, headquartered in Basel, with major facilities in Europe, North America and South Asia. Lonza was established under that name ...

. From 2017 to 2022, he served as an Industry Advisor to EQT.AB and was involved in various EQT portfolio companies, including Sivantos, Apleona, and Galderma. Ebeling held the position of Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Apleona Frankfurt from 2018 to 2021. Additionally, from 2016 to 2018, he was a member and Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Sivantos Singapore. Since 2019, Ebeling has been actively serving as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee at

Galderma Galderma SA is an American-Swiss pharmaceutical company specializing in dermatological treatments and skin care products. Formerly a subsidiary of L'Oréal and Nestlé, it was acquired by a consortium of private institutional investors in 20 ...

in Switzerland. Furthermore, since 2013, he has been providing advisory services as an Industry Partner to Rantum Management Capital GmbH for investment engagements. Since 2016, Ebeling has been serving as an Advisor to MPM Capital in Boston. Additionally, he holds the position of Chairman of the Advisory Committee at Remagine Ventures LP in Israel. Since 2017, he has been a member and Chairman of the Supervisory Board at

GFK GfK (originally ) is the largest German market research company. It provides data and intelligence to the consumer goods industry and is headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany. The company is a subsidiary of NIQ. History GfK was founded as GfK-N ...

in Nuremberg, playing a significant role in the market model of the TV industry. In 2017, he was elected to the Supervisory Board of Cullinan in Boston. Ebeling continues to be a part of the Advisor Committee at Moonfare and is actively involved in the Supervisory Board of Heilpfanzenwohl AG in Switzerland. Furthermore, in 2021, he was appointed to the Supervisory Boards of

Qiagen QIAGEN N.V. is a German-founded multinational provider of sample and assay technologies for molecular diagnostics, applied testing, academic research, and pharmaceutical research. The company operates in more than 35 offices in over 25 countries ...

Netherlands and Orna in Boston, USA. Since April 2024, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of

. In July 2024, he joined as a Member of the Board of

Recipharm Recipharm is a leading global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO), employing 5,200 people and operating in over a hundred markets worldwide. Recipharm offers pharmaceutical manufacturing services across various dosage ...

, an EQT Portfolio Company.

Philanthropy

Together with his wife, Ebeling founded the Rita and Thomas Ebeling Foundation, which is dedicated to the research and treatment of oncological and cardiovascular diseases.

Personal life

Ebeling currently lives with his family in Switzerland.

Honors and awards

In 2011, Ebeling was chosen as the Media Man of the Year 2011. In addition, from 2016 to 2017, he was listed among the worldwide "Top 100 - CEOs" by

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a not-for-profit, independent corporation that is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. ''HBR'' is published six times a year ...

. In 2017, the German Manager Magazine recognized Ebeling as the CEO with the best stock performance and as one of the Top 500 Entertainment Business Leaders by the

Variety Magazine ''Variety'' is an American trade magazine owned by Penske Media Corporation. It was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933, ''Daily Variety'' was launched, based in ...

References

Living people 1959 births People from Hanover University of Hamburg alumni German chief executives {{Morecats, date=November 2023