Julia Jäckel

Julia Jäkel (born November 13, 1971 in Mainz, Germany; married name Julia Jäkel-Wickert) is a German business executive. She has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Gruner + Jahr, one of the largest publishing houses in Europe, since 2013.

Jäkel was born to two doctors in Mainz, Germany, in 1971. After her Abitur at the Gutenberg School in Wiesbaden, Jäkel studied history, political science, and economics at Heidelberg University and spent a year at Harvard University. In 1996 she completed her studies with an MPhil in International Relations at the University of Cambridge.

Jäkel has been married to journalist Ulrich Wickert since 2003, and they have a pair of twins.

In 1997, Jäkel completed the Bertelsmann Entrepreneurs Program before transferring to Gruner + Jahr. In 1999, she joined the team that established the Financial Times Deutschland, first as Deputy Managing Editor, later becoming Publishing Director of Financial Times Deutschland Editions. Jäkel was promoted to Publishing Director of Brigitte magazine group in 2004.

Beginning in 2008, Jäkel held several management positions of Gruner + Jahr publishing groups and was in charge of National Geographic Deutschland. In 2012, Jäkel was appointed to the executive board of Gruner + Jahr. One of her first decisions was to shut down the loss-making Financial Times Deutschland. Six months after joining the Board, she took over full the chairman position of the executive board. She has said she will put emphasis on journalism, invested in the digital presence and improved relations with Bertelsmann. Under her leadership, the publishing house invested a lot in digital products. In 2018, she canceled the magazine Neon.

Since 2013, Jäkel has been a member of the Group Management Committee of Bertelsmann. 2019, Jäkel became chair of the Bertelsmann Content Alliance, managing the collaboration among all content businesses in Germany.

• DFL Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2019)
• Stiftung RTL - Wir helfen Kindern, Member of the Board of Trustees
• University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Member of the Board of Trustees

Jäkel received the award "Media Manager of the Year" of the German media magazine Kress in 2016, and she was named "Media Woman of the Year" by Horizont the following year. At the 2018 German Media Prizes, Jäkel was named "Media Person of the Year" and presented the award's highest accolade.