58Axel Springer Publishing Company

1985In 1985, sole owner Axel Springer placed 49 percent of the company’s shares on the stock exchange – a phase in the company’s history that ended in 2020. On April 6, Axel Springer SE was delisted following the acquisition of 44.9 percent of the shares by private equity firm KKR and Canadian pension fund CPPI. Today, Axel Springer is a family-owned transatlantic company. Friede Springer and Mathias Döpfner hold around 95 percent of the shares; the remaining shares are held by Axel Sven Springer, the founder’s grandson. This marks the fourth phase of the company’s development.