Many Burda employees are involved in voluntary or social work, taking on responsibility and helping other people in their spare time. We would like to present this heartfelt commitment here to inspire other employees.
Oliver Eckert, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of digital publisher BurdaForward and Managing Director at BurdaVerlag, has decided to close the Burda chapter after almost 15 years and take on new challenges.
Oliver Eckert has been very successful in various positions at Burda since 2009 and has significantly shaped its digital publishing business.
He began his career as founding Managing Director of Finanzen100, now a leading financial app for private investors. In 2010, he also took over the management of the former Tomorrow Focus Publishing GmbH, which was transferred to BurdaForward GmbH in 2015. It is home to many leading journalistic websites and apps such as Focus Online, Chip, Bunte.de, TV Spielfilm, Finanzen100, E-Fahrer and The Weather Channel.
Under the leadership of Oliver Eckert, BurdaForward has developed into a highly profitable, innovative and pioneering digital publisher, reaching more than 40 million people in Germany every month.
By using the latest technologies, Oliver Eckert and his team have achieved remarkable successes: in 2015, Focus Online replaced Bild.de as the German news portal with the highest reach for the first time. At the same time, BurdaForward has been steadily gaining share in the advertising market for years thanks to a consistent marketing strategy geared towards consumers ("Goodvertising").
Under the leadership of Oliver Eckert, BurdaForward also brought the Huffington Post and the Weather Channel from the USA to Germany and founded innovative offerings, including E-Fahrer.com, Germany's No. 1 portal for e-mobility.
In 2022, Oliver Eckert was additionally appointed to the Management Board of BurdaVerlag, where he was responsible for the digital strategy, the investment holding TEC and the Food, Health and Garden & Living segments.
Oliver Eckert reported directly to Burda CEO Martin Weiss, who said on his departure:
"On behalf of the entire Executive Board, I would like to thank Oliver Eckert for all his entrepreneurial achievements. He and his team have not only built BurdaForward into Germany's widest-reach news platform, but have also created a growing and highly profitable company within the Burda Group. We wish Oliver Eckert only the best for his future path."
Martin Weiss, Burda CEO
"I am proud that we as a great team have created the leading news platform in Germany. My thanks go to all my colleagues, partners and the board at Burda for their support and trust. I wish the management team and all colleagues at BurdaForward the very best."
Oliver Eckert
Oliver Eckert will hand over his responsibilities at BurdaForward to the existing management team, consisting of Dr Tanja zu Waldeck, Philipp Brunner, Thomas Koelzer, Martin Lütgenau and Daniel Steil, on 5th October 2023. Tanja zu Waldeck will become spokesperson of the Management Board.
The two Managing Directors Manuela Kampp-Wirtz and Elisabeth Varn will continue to lead BurdaVerlag as a duo. The divisions headed by Oliver Eckert will be divided between the two.
