The ousted chief executive of Bertelsmann said Tuesday that he had wanted its controlling family to loosen its grip, suggesting that the firm that he turned into an international heavyweight will fall away if it clings to its provincial roots.
The comments by Thomas Middelhoff, his first in public since his removal Sunday, appeared to confirm reports that the Mohn family has bridled at his idea for them to sell some of their shares on the stock market.
Speaking on German television, Middelhoff said one possibility for the German company was to maintain its "strong cultural ties" to its Gutersloh base and remain three-quarters controlled by the family.
An existing plan to allow a minority shareholder to list up to 25 percent of Bertelsmann's shares in 2005 to become Europe's largest listed media company would not dilute their control.
But Middelhoff said he had a more ambitious vision -- one which observors said must have alarmed many in the 167-year-old firm.
"Even if today the stock market climate is bad, the management must have the flexibility to develop this company further with a stock listing in the medium and long term," Middelhoff said. "Otherwise, a big firm like Bertelsmann can hardly stay competitive internationally in the size-class where it currently finds itself."
Under Middelhoff, 49, Bertelsmann jostled with the likes of AOL Time Warner and Vivendi, taking over US book giant Random House and Europe's No. 1 broadcaster, RTL. He also tried to build music publisher BMG into the world's biggest.
He took it into an array of Internet-connected ventures, from dormant music-exchange Napster to e-retailing projects such as Barnes&Noble.com and BOL.com.
But his aggressive dealmaking, insistence on taking the company public and plans to sell traditional divisions saw a management exodus at a firm previously known for the autonomy of its far-flung units and careful treatment of its employees.
German media have speculated that new CEO Deiter Thielen will turn back the clock, and reports said Tuesday that he will consider reversing some of Middelhoff's riskier moves.
Napster, whose assets Bertelsmann agreed to buy in bankruptcy proceedings, is off-line while Bertelsmann seeks a way to revive it as a subscription service. But analysts say it is being overtaken by competing music-distribution models, and it faces lawsuits from BMG's rivals who say it pirated their music.
Company officials declined comment Tuesday, but a member of the Mohn family said in a newspaper interview that Thielen should not be written off as an old-economy executive, even though he comes from its more traditional printing division, Arvato.
"Thielen is being underestimated," said Christoph Mohn, who heads internet portal Lycos Europe. "He has built a highly modern and very profitable service branch from the traditional printing business."
Arvato reflects the company's origins as a printer of religious books, but also owns e-commerce firm Pixelpark and produces CD-ROMs.
Middelhoff said he would take a long vacation in France to consider whether his career would continue outside Germany, "possibly on another continent."
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