Julia Jäkel (born November 13, 1971) is a German business executive and publisher. She serves as non-executive director of several companies. From 2012 to 2021, Jäkel was Chief Executive Officer of

Gruner + Jahr Gruner is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dov Gruner (1912–1947), Jewish Zionist leader * Eduard Gruner, Swiss engineer * Elioth Gruner (1882–1939), Australian painter * Gottlieb Sigmund Gruner (1717–1778), Swiss ca ...

and a member of the

Bertelsmann The Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (), is a German privately held company, private multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, ...

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

leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

Early life and education

Jäkel studied history, political science, and economics at

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. She holds an MPhil in

International relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Career

In 1997, Jäkel completed the

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 is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

, 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 (DT) is the process of adoption and implementation of digital technology by an organization in order to create new or modify existing products, services and operations by the means of translating business processes into a d ...

, 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. In 2023, Jäkel was appointed by Germany’s state governments as a member of an expert group advising on a reform of country’s public broadcasting.

Recognition

Jäkel received awards for her entrepreneurial and journalistic engagement.

Other activities

Corporate boards

Munich Re Munich Re Group or Munich Reinsurance Company () is a German Multinational corporation, multinational insurance company based in Munich, Germany. It is the world's largest reinsurance, reinsurer. ERGO Insurance Group, ERGO, a subsidiary of Munich ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2024) *

Google Cloud Platform Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a suite of cloud computing services offered by Google that provides a series of modular cloud services including computing, Computer data storage, data storage, Data analysis, data analytics, and machine learnin ...

, Member of the European Advisory Board (since 2022) * , Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2021) *

Holtzbrinck Publishing Group Holtzbrinck Publishing Group () is a Privately held company, privately held German company headquartered in Stuttgart, that Holding company, owns publishing companies worldwide. Through Macmillan Publishers, it is one of the Big Five English-lan ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2021) *

Deutsche Presse-Agentur Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (abbreviated as 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 agen ...

(DPA), Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2021)

Non-profit organizations

* DFL Foundation (German Football League Foundation), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2019) * Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2018) *

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 pla ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2015) *

German Cancer Research Center The German Cancer Research Center (known as the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum or simply DKFZ in German language, German) is a national cancer research center based in Heidelberg, Germany. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German ...

(DKFZ), Member of the Advisory CouncilAdvisory Council

(DKFZ).

References

External links

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