Klaus Eck (Manager)

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Klaus Eck (born September 1, 1949 ) is a former German manager and managing director of the Bertelsmann publishing group (later Random House ).

Life

Klaus Eck's affinity for books was evident early on: his formative reading experiences included the books by Enid Blyton , Astrid Lindgren and above all Karl May , whose entire works he read in just one year at the age of twelve. The studied English , German and art historian began his professional career at Gustav Lübbe Verlag in Bergisch Gladbach , where he worked as a lecturer from 1978 . In 1981 publishing manager Olaf Paeschke brought him to Bertelsmann Verlag in Munich. There he continued his career as head editor of Goldmann Verlag , whose publishing program became more international from then on. Together with Volker Neumann , he led Goldmann to number one among the German-language paperback publishers in the 1990s , above all through the draft horses Elisabeth George , Minette Walters , Joy Fielding , Martha Grimes from the crime thriller segment and the entertainment author Charlotte Link .

Eck rose to the position of publishing director and later became the responsible managing director of the Bertelsmann publishing group with its hardcover and paperback publishers. He shaped the steady growth of today's leading German-speaking consumer publishing group Random House through acquisitions of the publishers Siedler , Heyne , DVA , Kösel and Hörverlag as well as the founding of new publishers such as Knaus , Blessing , btb , Blanvalet-Taschenbücher , Pantheon and carl's books , and was one of the top ones Thanks to numerous bestsellers from the group's 45 publishers, the head of program is responsible for the dynamic development that resulted in a profit of around ten percent and sales of EUR 340 million. An economic downturn and the resulting book slump in 1999 forced the Bertelsmann board of directors to commission Eck to generate more sales with ten percent fewer titles. In order to realize this, Eck bought Luchterhand Literaturverlag as a promising addition to the publishing house, which, however, did not have a positive effect on the loss balance . Christa Wolf , one of the most respected authors at Luchterhand-Verlag, was warned not to publish under one roof with the singer Dieter Bohlen , whereupon Wolf switched to Suhrkamp Verlag , which Eck, who at first vehemently opposed the new trend of celebrity biographies à la Bohlen had resisted, assessed as a bitter loss. Furthermore, Peter Härtling , Gabriele Wohmann and Peter Bichsel left the Luchterhand literary publisher. After Bohlen debut with sold over half a million copies (in addition to the Random House belonging Heyne Verlag) in the previous year had saved the annual profit, Eck could not resist more: Bohlen second part was him an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 euro advance fee worth it.

In 2001, Eck was appointed President and CEO of the Random House publishing group. In the same year the Reading Foundation elected him its deputy chairman. The management of the entire Random House company ordered a drastic austerity course from the USA in 2002, which paralyzed the Bertelsmann publishing group and its employees and led, among other things, to layoffs at Luchterhand. Klaus Eck was relieved of his position as CEO of the German publishing group and entrusted with the management of the publishing director, who from then on was under a controller .

In 2003, Eck developed the new book series "Random House Entertainment", with unusually weird and cheeky titles that were primarily intended to appeal to young readers. Media-related books on film, radio and television were planned as a focus, in which pop stars , actors , presenters , athletes and artists predominated.

For the Association of German Book Trade Klaus Eck committed from 2003 to 2006 in the publisher Committee and the Assembly of Delegates. From 2010 to 2014 he was managing director of Gerth Medien GmbH and since 2013 managing director of d. Tales GmbH, a communication and marketing service provider.

At the age of 64, Eck gave up the management of the Random House publishing group in 2014 and was then responsible for the company's strategic and content development as "President Content and Publishing Innovation".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cbj: fascination of Bartimaeus. Conversation with the publisher Klaus Eck about Jonathan Stroud and the success of Bartimaeus (2008). In: bartimaeus.de. Verlagsgruppe Random House GmbH, 2008, accessed on June 25, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Big birthday for Klaus Eck. Congratulations. In: boersenblatt.net. Torsten Casimir, September 1, 2009, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b c Klaus Eck (65). In: buchmarkt.de. BuchMarkt Verlag K. Werner GmbH , September 1, 2014, accessed on June 25, 2019 .
  4. ^ A b c Hannes Hintermeier : Publishing man Klaus Eck. There are too few good books. For almost thirty years he was the chief publisher of Random House Germany. When he retires, he is supposed to swear the largest German publishing group into the future. He relies on money and love. In: faz.net. Carsten Knop , September 12, 2014, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b History of Goldmann Verlag. In: randomhouse.de. Verlagsgruppe Random House GmbH, accessed on June 25, 2019 .
  6. ↑ A turning point and a change in management: Klaus Eck will no longer be part of the day-to-day business at Random House / Random House publishing group announces expansion of management. Personnel: top personnel. In: buchmarkt.de. BuchMarkt Verlag K. Werner GmbH, June 23, 2014, accessed on June 25, 2019 .
  7. ^ A b c Thomas Lehning: The media house. Past and present of the Bertelsmann group. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-7705-4035-2 , Chapter 6.7.4 Market adjustments and new elephant weddings, p. 125-129 .
  8. ↑ a b Nils Klawitter: The revelation envy. One year after Dieter Bohlen's bestseller effusions, those willing to confess stand in line. The publishers gratefully accept and inflate the organic waste for media events. Biographies. In: spiegel.de. October 1, 2003, p. 1 , accessed June 25, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Hubert Spiegel : Whistling in the ear. Random House acquires Luchterhand Literaturverlag . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . October 30, 2001, features section.
  10. ↑ Dr. Georg Ruppelt is the new chairman of the Reading Foundation. In: bit-online . Retrieved June 25, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Rascal stories. Daniel Küblböck's autobiography. In: sueddeutsche.de . May 11, 2010, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Klaus Eck. Timeline. In: companyhouse.de. CompanyHouse AG, accessed June 25, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Random House: Klaus Eck gives up management. "30 exciting, thrilling and passionate years". In: boersenblatt.net. Torsten Casimir, June 23, 2014, accessed June 25, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Eck, Klaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publishing manager
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1949