Jens Müffelmann this year assumed responsibility for the entire US portfolio of Germany-based publisher Axel Springer.
As US president, he reports directly to Mathias Döpfner, CEO and chairman of Axel Springer, having previously been chief operating officer of the company’s marketing and classified division. His promotion comes in part from one of the deals he struck while in marketing – an equity stake in room rental company Airbnb, which has soared in value.
Axel Springer’s main real estate portal, Immonet, formed a joint marketing partnership with Airbnb in Germany after the investment in 2012, weeks after Döpfner met one of its founders, Brian Chesky, at a conference for technology entrepreneurs in Sun Valley, Idaho, according to a profile in the New York Times last year.
In a statement to mark Müffelmann’s promotion, Döpfner said: “Commencing with our investment in Airbnb and including our most recent acquisition, Business Insider, we have completed more than a dozen investments in the US. The US market has thus clearly gained in importance for Axel Springer.
“By creating this new position we want to ensure that we can capitalise on the growth potential in the US market in the best possible way. Jens Müffelmann is the ideal executive for this position. He was operationally responsible for the successful establishment of Axel Springer’s digital portfolio and has my full trust from 15 years of close collaboration.”
Müffelmann retains his role as CEO of Axel Springer Digital Ventures, as well as for Axel Springer’s radio investments. Founded in the US in 2014 and with Anton Waitz as managing director, Axel Springer Digital Ventures “promotes the early development of new business models” partly in the form of direct investments and also with the Axel Springer Plug and Play accelerator.
In the final six months of last year, Axel Springer has acquired stakes in US-based media companies Thrillist, Mic.com and Jaunt, and paid $343m for a controlling stake in Business Insider just eight months after leading a $25m round for the business news site. It is also the largest investor in Ozy, and holds minority interests in NowThis Media, Pixlee, Pocket and the A Plus media startups.