Richard Gruner

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V. l. to r .: Gerd Bucerius , Richard Gruner and John Jahr (1968)

Richard Gruner (born December 25, 1925 in Hamburg ; † January 13, 2010 in Vaduz , Liechtenstein ) was a German entrepreneur and publisher .

Life

Richard Gruner was the son of the print shop owner Richard Gruner Sr., who ran his print shop Gruner & Sohn in Itzehoe .

After his father's accidental death in 1946, he continued to run the family business with seven employees after completing his training. Before his death, his father had invested in a rotogravure rotary press that enabled the printing of magazines. In 1950 Richard Gruner took a 12.5 percent stake in Henri-Nannen-Verlag , which became Gruner & Sohn's most important customer. His magazine Stern was one of the first to be printed in Gruner's print shop in Itzehoe. In 1961 Richard Gruner bought 25 percent of the shares in Spiegel-Verlag from John Jahr for 3.2 million DM and became its managing director. In 1965 Richard Gruner merged his companies with the publishing houses John Jahr sen. and Gerd Bucerius for Gruner + Jahr GmbH & Co., at that time the second largest German publishing house after Axel Springer Verlag . Richard Gruner was involved with 39.5 percent, John Jahr with 32.25 percent and Gerd Bucerius with 28.25 percent. Due to the merger, Richard Gruner had to relinquish the management of Spiegel-Verlag.

In order to end a legal dispute with Spiegel founder Rudolf Augstein , Richard Gruner sold his stake in Spiegel for an estimated purchase price of 40 million DM. In February 1969, Richard Gruner initially sold 14.5 percent of Gruner + Jahr GmbH & Co. KG to its co-shareholders for 50 million euros. Although other publishers such as Heinrich Bauer Verlag and the WAZ media group had also expressed interest in Gruner's remaining shares, in May 1969 he also sold the remaining 25 percent to John Jahr and Gerd Bucerius. After he left, John Jahr and Gerd Bucerius briefly held 37.5 percent each. A few days after buying the Gruner shares, they sold the 25 percent to Reinhard Mohns Bertelsmann Verlag.

Richard Gruner married Flora Freiin von Langen in 1959 and relocated to Vaduz in the Principality of Liechtenstein in 1968 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Schneider, Wolf: The Gruner + Jahr Story, Piper Verlag, Munich ISBN 3-492-23447-X , pp. 68f.
personal data
SURNAME Gruner, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publisher and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH January 13, 2010
Place of death Liechtenstein