Rank #947
Friede Springer
Net worth $4.5B
Publishing · Germany
- Born
- Aug 15, 1942
- Age
- 83
- Source
- Publishing
- Residence
- Berlin
- Citizenship
- Germany
- Marital status
- Widowed
- Children
- 0
- Education
Net worth over time
Biography
- Friede Springer inherited a stake in media giant Axel Springer Verlag from her husband, Axel, following his death in 1985.
- Hired as the nanny of his two sons, Springer eventually married Axel, who trained her to take over the business.
- Among the largest publishing houses in Europe, Axel Springer is active in over 40 countries. Its newspapers include Bild and Die Welt.
- The company acquired TV news station N24 (since rebranded as Welt) and the New York-based digital news outlet Business Insider (now renamed Insider) in 2015.
- Axel Springer went public in 1985. In 2020, it went private again in a KKR-funded buyout.
- To ensure continuity, in 2020 Friede Springer gave a 15% stake in Axel Springer to CEO Mathias Doepfner and sold him an additional 4.1%.

- After the delisting and the gift and sale to Doepfner, she now holds 22.5% of the company.