| Hans-Holger Albrecht | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 29, 1963 Brussels, Belgium |
| Occupation | President and CEO, Modern Times Group MTG AB |
| Parents | Ernst Albrecht Heidi Adele Albrecht |
Hans-Holger Albrecht (born 1963) is a German President and CEO of the Swedish-based European broadcasting group Modern Times Group MTG AB [1] which is part of the Kinnevik Group, controlled by the Stenbeck family. He is the brother of Ursula von der Leyen, German Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.
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Hans-Holger was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1963 to Heidi Adele and Ernst Albrecht where his father worked at the Council of the European Union. In 1971 the family moved to Germany where Ernst Albrecht became Premier of Lower Saxony (1976–1990). Hans-Holger grew up in Burgdorf. He studied at the University of Freiburg in Germany, at Yale University in the USA, and at the University of Bochum, Germany, where he received a Master of Laws degree (LLM).
Hans-Holger worked for Daimler-Benz (in 1990) and for the Luxembourg-based media group CLT (from 1991 to 1996). At CLT, he was responsible for all television activities and for business development in Germany and Eastern Europe. He worked on new projects for RTL 2 in Germany, RTL 7 in Poland, RTL 1 in Hungary, and Channel 5 in the UK. He was also responsible for the launch of the SuperRTL channel in Germany and for the development of CLT’s digital TV project, Club RTL.
Hans-Holger started his career at Modern Times Group MTG AB in 1997 as head of the pay-TV operations within the business area Viasat Broadcasting. In 1999, he was appointed Business Area Manager, thus assuming responsibility for the free-TV division as well. Then in April 2000, he was appointed Chief Operation Officer (COO) of MTG.
He became President and CEO of MTG AB [2] on October 1, 2000, when the Kinnevik Group was chaired by the late entrepreneur Jan Stenbeck, founder of MTG (and its origin TV3, the first TV channel outside the national public service broadcasting in Scandinavia), as well as telecom operators Tele2 and Millicom and the newspaper group Metro International.
During Hans-Holger’s years as CEO (and with Jan Stenbeck’s daughter Cristina Stenbeck as board member) MTG’s broadcasting operations have expanded strongly, from having the Nordic and Baltic regions as its core geographical markets to become one of the leading commercial broadcasters in Europe. MTG’s TV assets have grown from 16 channels in seven countries to 62 channels in 31 countries. Net sales for MTG have grown from SEK 4.5 billion in 1999 to SEK 13.2 billion in 2008, while the underlying group operating margin has increased from 5% in 1999 to 20% in 2008.
Currently he is co-chairman of CTC Media Inc..[3] MTG is the largest shareholder (38.9%) of CTC Media, the largest commercial television broadcasters in Russia that airs targeted entertainment programming. CTC Media operates three TV networks, CTC, Domashny and DTV. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Millicom International Cellular S.A. and of the Board of the International Emmy Association in New York.
Hans-Holger Albrecht resides in London, is married and has seven children, as many as his sister Ursula von der Leyen. She became German Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs on 30 November 2009. She was previously, from 2005, Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.