One of the top editors at Axel Springer, the German media giant behind major American publications like Politico and Business Insider, left the company after an investigation into inappropriate behavior, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The investigation into the person, Jan Philipp Burgard, who was the editor in chief of the center-right broadsheet Welt, began this month after executives at Axel Springer received a media inquiry about Mr. Burgard’s behavior at an alcohol-filled company Christmas party in December, two of the people said.
During the investigation, Mr. Burgard, 41, was asked whether he had behaved inappropriately toward female employees of Axel Springer at the party, two of the people said, including whether he had kissed the employees.
Under questioning, Mr. Burgard acknowledged that he had been drinking at the party, but said he could not recall whether the reports were true, two of the people said. After that conversation, Axel Springer told Mr. Burgard to resign, the two people said.
Mr. Burgard did not respond to emails, texts or phone calls seeking comment. In a LinkedIn post last week, he said he had decided to resign after experiencing “a serious physical incident” on a flight back from vacation that required him to be treated by a doctor in midair.
Reached by phone, a spokesman for Axel Springer declined to comment on personnel matters.
Mr. Burgard is being replaced by Helge Fuhst, a top editor at the German public broadcaster Ard. Mr. Fuhst will also oversee the German editions of Axel Springer’s U.S. titles, including Politico and Business Insider.
Mr. Burgard was one of Axel Springer’s most prominent editors, steering its influential German broadsheet and appearing on its TV network. In 2024, he responded publicly to a controversial op-ed Welt Group had published that was written by the billionaire Elon Musk endorsing Germany’s far-right AfD party. Before he joined Axel Springer, he was the U.S. correspondent for Ard, covering the White House and traveling across America.
Mr. Burgard’s exit comes as Axel Springer, a European media giant with holdings in the United States and Germany, looks to expand its influence in America. Mathias Döpfner, the influential chief executive who in effect controls the company, has been aggressively pursuing other publications in the United States in recent months, telling The Wall Street Journal in December that he was “ready to move” on major acquisitions.
But questions about the conduct of Axel Springer’s top editors continue to follow the company. Five years ago, Axel Springer dismissed Julian Reichelt, who was editor of the center-right tabloid Bild.
The New York Times reported in 2021 that Mr. Reichelt had a relationship with a trainee who testified during an independent legal investigation that he had summoned her in 2018 to a hotel near the office for sex.
Benjamin Mullin reports for The Times on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact him securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or at [email protected].
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