Oliver Eckert, CEO of digital publisher BurdaForward and Managing Director of BurdaVerlag, has decided to close the Burda chapter after almost 15 years and take on new challenges.
Oliver Eckert has been extremely successful in various positions at Burda since 2009 and has played a key role in shaping the 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 that reaches more than 40 million people in Germany every month with its offerings.
By using the latest technologies, Oliver Eckert and his team have achieved remarkable success: in 2015, Focus Online replaced Bild.de as the German news portal with the widest 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, consumer-focused marketing strategy ("goodvertising").
In addition, the company successfully diversified into content-driven e-commerce models and transformed itself into a news platform. Under Oliver Eckert's leadership, BurdaForward also brought the HuffingtonPost and the Weather Channel from the USA to Germany and founded new offerings, including E-Fahrer.com, Germany's No. 1 portal for e-mobility.
In 2022, Oliver Eckert was also appointed to the management board of BurdaVerlag, where he was responsible for digital strategy, the holding company 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 Management Board, I would like to thank Oliver Eckert for all his entrepreneurial achievements. Together with his team, he has not only built BurdaForward into Germany's widest-reaching news platform, but also created a growing and highly profitable company within the Burda Group. We wish Oliver Eckert all the best for the future."
Oliver Eckert says: "I am proud that we have created the leading news platform in Germany with a great team. My thanks go to all my colleagues, partners and the Board of Directors at Burda for their support and trust. I wish the management team and all colleagues at BurdaForward all the very best."
Oliver Eckert will hand over his responsibilities at BurdaForward to the existing management team, which consists of Dr. Tanja zu Waldeck, Philipp Brunner, Thomas Koelzer, Martin Lütgenau and Daniel Steil, on October 5, 2023. Tanja zu Waldeck will become Spokesperson of the Management Board.
The two managing directors Manuela Kampp-Wirtz and Elisabeth Varn will continue to manage BurdaVerlag as a duo.
The divisions managed by Oliver Eckert will be divided between them.
