Success Through Partnership

Reinard Mohn great-great-grandson of Carl Bertelsmann, the founder of the Bertelsmann publishing house, was born in Gutersloh, Germany, in 1921. The publishing house itself originated over 160 years ago as a printing office, primarily for church hymnals. For parr of World War II, Mohn was a prisoner of war in Kansas. Following the war, he returned to Gutersloh and gave up his engineering career to resurrect the company from the shambles of war. During the forty years of his leadership he built Bertelsmann into an international media conglomerate that includes book and music clubs, magazines, book and music publishing houses, and printing plants. He retired as managing board chairman in 1981 and as supervisory board chairman in 1991. He is currently chairman of the board of the Bertelsmann Foundation.