David Montgomery (media investor)

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David Montgomery (born November 6, 1948 in Bangor , Northern Ireland ) is a British media investor. It acts as a private equity - Manager , who is involved in the press.

Life

Montgomery studied Political Science and History at Queen's University in Belfast . Between 1973 and 1976 he worked as an editor for the Daily Mirror ; In 1976 he moved to The Sun , where he rose to the chief editor. In 1980 he left the tabloid. Other employers were Sunday People , News of the World (1982–1987) and Today (1987–1991). In addition to his journalistic activities, he also took on more and more media management tasks. He was the managing director of the private television stations “Satellite Television PLC” (1986–1991) and “London Live TV” (1991/92).

In the 1990s, he became known as the executive director of the Mirror newspaper group ( Daily Mirror ). After the media entrepreneur and "press czar" Robert Maxwell died in 1991 under circumstances that have not yet been fully clarified, Montgomery took over the management of the British press house in 1992 . Despite falling circulation, he succeeded in enormously increasing the company's stock market value through unpopular cost-cutting measures and layoffs. His business methods earned him the nickname "Rommel", after his famous namesake's opponent in war. In 1999 he had to resign after a dispute with the board of directors.

Today Montgomery is an investor and heads the Mecom Group , which he founded in 2000 , a British private equity firm specializing in the media industry. Depending on your political point of view, he is considered to be a "tough renovator" or the epitome of the " grasshopper "; an investor who earns the return at the company's expense and then sells it again.

Group

In Ireland, Montgomery worked as a consultant for the financial investor 3i from 2003. He had bought the Northern Irish newspaper publishers Century Press and Publishing and Derry Journal Group under the investment vehicle Local Press Group . 3i paid £ 46.3 million (€ 69 million) for it. According to press reports, Montgomery had a five percent stake in the Local Press Group. Two years later, the Local Press Group was sold again: It went to Johnsten Press from Edinburgh for 65 million pounds, Montgomery is said to have sold around 900,000 pounds. In Germany, Montgomery has been as well known as it is controversial since it took over the Berliner Verlag , which publishes the Berliner Zeitung and the Berliner Kurier in October 2005. David Montgomery, wrote Gina Thomas in faz.net, is considered an “ice cold manager who reveals little about himself and sees it as a weakness to show emotion.” A look back at Montgomery's career shows “that he doesn't seem to know any other freestyle than saving. "

In an interview with journalists at the Berliner Zeitung prior to its final takeover, Montgomery said: “We're not looking for quick profits. We aim to merge many newspapers in Germany and perhaps even Europe in order to achieve synergies. ”At the end of January 2006, Montgomery also took over Hamburger Morgenpost through BV Deutsche Zeitungsholding .

The Anglo-Saxon media investment group Mecom, led by Montgomery, bought the stakes in the Norwegian Orkla Media group, one of the largest in Scandinavia (for 970 million euros) in July 2006 .

In January 2009, the group had to sell the Berlin publishing house for 152 million euros to the Cologne publishing house M. DuMont Schauberg due to financial difficulties .

proof

  1. ↑ Feldherr der Finsternis , FAZ of October 17, 2005.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Montgomery, David
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Montgomery, David John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British manager
DATE OF BIRTH November 6, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Bangor , Northern Ireland