The Springer Group faces new allegations in the Reichelt case

Recherchen der britischen Tageszeitung “Financial Times” setzen den Axel-Springer-Verlag unter Druck., Der Konzern soll demnach schon eher von den Machtmissbrauchsvorwürfen gegen den damaligen “Bild”-Chefredakteur Julian Reichelt gewusst haben.

Research by the British daily newspaper “Financial Times” is putting the Axel Springer publishing house under pressure.

The British daily newspaper “Financial Times” (FT) has in an article about the case of former “Bild” editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt addressed the role of the head of the Axel Springer group. The newspaper report describes a chronological course of the behavior of the top management around the internal investigations into the allegations against Reichelt and establishes references to when the management is said to have known something.

The newspaper writes that serious allegations against Reichelt are said to have been known to the group before the investigation. He is said to have known more at the core than the company presented to the outside world. In addition, Springer boss Mathias Döpfner and top executives are said to have worked to protect Reichelt during the investigation and after its conclusion.

A Springer spokesman said on Tuesday when asked by dpa: “The article paints a misleading picture of the compliance investigation, the consequences drawn from it, the entire company and its management.”

Abuse of power related to consensual relationships with female employees

In mid-October, the group relieved Reichelt of his duties at the head of Germany’s largest tabloid. In the spring of 2021, there were internal investigations – the compliance investigation – into allegations of abuse of power in connection with consensual relationships with employees.

Reichelt was initially given a second chance and remained at the top of the editorial board. When a report by the “New York Times” appeared in mid-October and press research by the investigative team at the Ippen Media Group became known, Springer drew a line.

The media group justified the end like this: “As a result of press research, the company had gained new insights into Julian Reichelt’s current behavior in the last few days. The company followed up on this information. The Management Board found out that Julian Reichelt also after graduation of the compliance procedure in the spring of 2021 did not clearly separate private and professional matters and told the Management Board an untruth about it.”