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The German media company Axel Springer announced its first U.S. leadership team this morning, a 10-person cohort whose appointments signal the domestic ambitions of the global news behemoth.
The team includes a mix of four longstanding executives, five new hires and one internal promotion, and it has been a year in the making, according to vice president and head of U.S. communications Nick Pacilio.
“Axel Springer’s role in the U.S. is to strengthen, protect and accelerate our global brands, including Politico, Business Insider, Insider Intelligence and Morning Brew,” chief operating officer Gabriel Brotman said in a statement.
“This is a fantastic team of leaders and entrepreneurs with the expertise to do just that, and I couldn’t be more excited to get started,” Brotman added.
The formation of a more structured Axel Springer in the U.S. suggests that the company will look to gain efficiencies by centralizing some of the functions that are currently distributed across its domestic properties, according to one media analyst. This could lead to improved margins both through expedited workflows, as well as the potential elimination of redundant roles.
The U.S. investment comes during a period of extreme disruption in digital media, which has spurred layoffs and closures across the industry in recent months, including an 8% reduction in headcount at Axel Springer property Business Insider.
However, the German media company—which inked a deal with OpenAI last December—has proven less vulnerable to the downturn in the U.S. market. It generated $4.2 billion in 2022 and $2 billion in revenue in the first half of 2023, and is profitable on an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, debt and amortization) basis, according to public filings. Globally, Axel Springer employs 18,000 people, including 3,400 journalists.
