Burda: Maximilian Preisser becomes board spokesperson — what he is now set to steer

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Who will in the future steer one of Germany's major private media groups through its restructuring? That answer came today: Dr. Maximilian Preisser. The supervisory board of Hubert Burda Media has appointed the lawyer as the company's first board spokesperson effective immediately — a position that Burda has specifically created.

Preisser is to strategically coordinate the work of the management board in his role and, together with his board colleagues, advance the transformation of the corporate group. According to the group, this transformation had already begun last year with an organizational restructuring.

Burda is in the middle of a restructuring, the Handelsblatt reports. With the appointment of a board spokesperson, the board once again has a prominent leadership figure at the top — according to Horizont, the body had most recently had no formal chairman.

Who is Maximilian Preisser?

Preisser studied law at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg and at the University of Oxford, according to his profile on the Burda website. After completing his doctorate and working as a lawyer in Hamburg, he joined Hubert Burda Media in 2017.

In the newly created role, he will steer and coordinate the strategic work of the management board going forward and, together with his board colleagues, drive forward the transformation of the corporate group.

Which tasks does the new spokesperson take on?

In terms of content, according to Burda's reading, this is about steering and coordinating the work of the management board and about driving forward the group's restructuring. The organizational realignment has been underway since last year, according to the company — which specific structures are being adjusted, the announcement leaves open.

For you, that means: personnel moves of this magnitude are rare at Burda and are read in the industry as a directional decision. Whoever coordinates the management board going forward also determines which business areas will receive priority.

How does the change fit into the Burda restructuring?

Recently, according to information from Manager Magazin, Elisabeth Varn took over responsibility for the German media business. With Preisser's appointment to the newly created spokesperson position, Burda is continuing the restructuring at the top of the group — and simultaneously creating a role that did not previously exist in this form.

What remains open: exactly how the new role delineates itself from the existing board portfolios, and which strategic priorities Preisser wants to set in the coming months, cannot be gleaned from the announcements to date.