Martin Weese to leave BurdaVerlag

Martin Weese, Chief Digital Officer and member of the Management Board, will leave BurdaVerlag on 1 August 2026. Since joining BurdaInternational in February 2019, he has played a defining role in the digital transformation of several business areas. 

Following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Weese took charge as COO of restructuring BurdaLuxury's Southeast Asian business and built up a regional digital organisation. He went on to lead the strategic realignment of the Poland business, oversaw the acquisitions of Edipresse Polska and Cocolita, and brought the companies together as interim CEO. Most recently, as COO of BurdaInternational, he was responsible for international strategy as well as the businesses in France and the Czech Republic, and for Burda Create. 

In early 2024, Weese moved to BurdaVerlag's Management Board as CDO. In this role, he brought together the digital activities of the Luxury & Lifestyle, Health, Food, and Garden & Living divisions. His portfolio included Instyle.de, Elle.de, HarpersBazaar.de, Esquire.de, Freundin.de, the NetDoktor portals, Einfachbacken.de, Einfachkochen.de, daskochrezept.de, Mein-schoener-garten.de and Haus.de, as well as the Mein schöner Garten e-commerce shop. 

A particular highlight of his tenure was the development of Focus plus: Weese was responsible for its strategy, building the team, launching it in the market, and subsequently growing the subscription business. He also drove a consistent focus across the digital business on login, paid content and direct customer relationships. Under his leadership, four apps launched — Focus plus, Einfach Backen, Instyle and Mein schöner Garten. Revenue, earnings and operational KPIs all developed very positively during his tenure, despite a challenging market environment.