Details of the leadership team
The leadership team consists of 10 total executives, whose responsibilities range from business development to human resources.
The four longstanding executives are:
- Kelly Althoff, vp, portfolio management and investments
- Gabriel Brotman, COO, U.S.
- Jessica Dybfest, operations manager
- Marshall Monda, senior legal counsel, head of U.S. compliance and privacy
The five new hires are:
- Amelia Wang Binder, vp, head of U.S. government affairs, who joined from the National Music Publishers’ Association last December
- Christian Baesler, senior advisor, strategy and investments, who joined from BuzzFeed in February
- Nick Pacilio, vp, head of U.S. communications, who joined from Haun Ventures in February
- Chelsea Pollack, vp, head of U.S. people and culture, who joined from Cheddar in February
- Eliot Stempf, vp, head of U.S. information security, who joined from BuzzFeed in February
The internal promotion was Maggie Milnamow, senior vp, head of U.S. group sales. Milnamow, who has served as the chief revenue officer of Business Insider since 2021, will serve in both functions as a dual role.
Poised for expansion and centralization
The makeup of the Axel Springer leadership team signals several of its key priorities, according to interviews with industry executives.
First, the media company believes there is untapped value to be found in the domestic news business—an industry in which only a handful of operators have been able to find commercial stability.
Second, Axel Springer intends to grow its U.S. footprint, which currently consists of three distinct editorial operations and a data insights firm.
Its appointment of Baesler to a senior advisory role and Althoff in an investment capacity both suggest future merger and acquisition activity. In recent months, Axel Springer has expressed interest in both The Telegraph and Forbes, according to reporting from Puck.
Establishing a centralized arm for functions like human resources, communications and operations also indicates that the media company is looking to unlock commercial efficiencies, according to the media analyst. Rather than each shop performing these roles independently, a hub-and-spoke model could reduce costs in duplicate functions.
This kind of overlap could also let the publishers more fluidly share readership and commercial data, said Ameet Shah, a partner and senior vp of publisher operations and strategy at Prohaska Consulting.
