{{Short description|German publisher (born 1942)}} {{Infobox person | image = Friede Springer.jpg | caption = Springer in 2014 | birth_name = Friede Riewerts | birth_date = {{birth date and age text|15 August 1942}} | birth_place = Oldsum, Föhr, Germany<ref>{{cite book|first=Johann |last=Lorenzen |title=Geschlechterreihen St. Laurentii Föhr |volume=III |publisher=Husum Druck- und Verlagsanstalt |year=2000 |isbn=3-88042-945-6 |language=German |page=68}}</ref> | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | alma_mater = | employer = | occupation = Publisher | title = | height = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | political_party = Christian Democratic Union | boards = Axel Springer AG | spouse = {{marriage|Axel Springer|1978|1985|reason=d}} | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Friede Springer''' (born '''Friede Riewerts''', 15 August 1942) is a German publisher and widow of Axel Springer. She is the main owner of the Axel Springer SE media conglomerate - and thus of Europe's largest newspaper ''Bild'' - being one of the richest people of Germany.
==Biography== A Frisian gardener's daughter,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wams.de/data/2005/02/06/459189.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060108062508/http://www.wams.de/data/2005/02/06/459189.html |archivedate= 8 January 2006 |title=<nowiki>Die Frau von der Insel und ihre große Liebe</nowiki> |language=German |first=Inge |last=Kloepfer |work=Welt am Sonntag |accessdate=23 December 2011}}</ref> she worked as a nanny at the Springer family's home from 1965 onwards and later became Springer's lover and eventual partner. In 1978 she became Springer's fifth (and last) wife. She is a member of the Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Germany.
After Axel Springer's death she, together with children and grandchildren from his prior marriages, inherited Springer's shares in his publishing trust. At the time, Springer was still holding 26.1 per cent of the corporation, the rest was held by the Bavarian film trader Leo Kirch, the Burda family and several minor investors. Subsequently she became manager of Axel Springer AG and sole executive manager of the Springer Holding.
Under her guidance, the Springer heirs bought back the company's shares from the two Burda brothers for about DM 531 million in 1988. Five years prior, the brothers had paid half that sum for their share. As Springer's children leaned up against her in the following years, she bought the family members out and thus took over their shares. In 2002, she (formally being the company's governing body) installed Mathias Döpfner as the new chairman of the board. He led the Springer AG out of its crisis and dissolved the tight bond with Munich based entrepreneur Leo Kirch.
As of July 2015, Friede Springer sits as deputy chairwoman on the supervisory board of Axel Springer AG<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.axelspringer.de/en/artikel/Supervisory-Board_85415.html |title=Supervisory Board Axel Springer AG, as of July 2015 |access-date=2015-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908072156/http://www.axelspringer.de/en/artikel/Supervisory-Board_85415.html |archive-date=2017-09-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and is the largest shareholder of the company. She owns 5.6% of Springer AG's stocks directly<ref>[http://www.axelspringer.de/en/artikel/Shareholder-Structure_43162.html Shareholder Structure Axel Springer AG, as of July 2015]</ref> and has a 90% shareholding of ''Axel Springer Gesellschaft für Publizistik GmbH & Co. KG'', which in turn has a stake of 51.5% in Axel Springer AG.<ref>[http://www.kek-online.de/no_cache/information/mediendatenbank.html?c=269&L=1 German Commission on Concentration in the Media, as of July 2015]</ref> According to the ''Forbes'' magazine, she owned a private fortune of US$5.1 billion (as of November 2017), thereby ranking as the 31st richest person on the list of Germany's wealthiest people and the 460th worldwide.<ref name="Forbes">{{cite web|title=Friede Springer|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/friede-springer/|work=Forbes|accessdate=29 September 2020}}</ref>
She is a friend of Angela Merkel and also a party member of the Christian Democratic Union. As such she participated in the 12th Federal Assembly in 2004 to elect the President of Germany.
==Other activities== * Axel Springer Foundation, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees * Friede Springer Foundation, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees (since 2011)<ref>[http://www.friedespringerstiftung.de/ Board of Trustees] Friede Springer Foundation.</ref><ref>[http://www.morgenpost.de/kultur/article104768213/Friede-Springer-Der-Staat-kann-nicht-alles.html Friede Springer – "Der Staat kann nicht alles"] ''Berliner Morgenpost'', January 23, 2011.</ref> * Friends of the Fraenkelufer Synagogue, Member of the Board of Trustees<ref>Ulrich Zawatka-Gerlach (May 30, 2018), [https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/kuratorium-vorgestellt-prominente-unterstuetzen-synagogenbau-am-kreuzberger-fraenkelufer/22621182.html Kuratorium vorgestellt: Prominente unterstützen Synagogenbau am Kreuzberger Fraenkelufer] ''Der Tagesspiegel''.</ref> * Co-founder of the Virchow Foundation<ref>{{cite web | url=https://virchowprize.org/founders/ | title=Founders }}</ref>
==Recognition== Among the decorations Springer received was the Order of Merit of Berlin in 1988, the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1996, the Leo Baeck Prize by the Central Council of Jews in Germany in 2000,<ref>https://www.zentralratderjuden.de/presseerklaerungen/presseerklaerung-zur-verleihung-des-leo-baeck-preises-2000/</ref> the Bavarian Order of Merit in 2004 and the Order of Merit of Saxony-Anhalt in 2019.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|https://www.friedespringerstiftung.de/|Friede Springer Stiftung}} (Friede Springer Foundation) * {{cite web|url=http://www.zeit.de/2005/08/P-Springer|title=<nowiki>Die Märchenprinzessin</nowiki>|author=Elitz, Ernst|publisher=Die Zeit|language=German|date=17 February 2005|accessdate=23 December 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923052000/http://www.zeit.de/2005/08/P-Springer |archivedate=23 September 2010}} * {{cite web|url=http://www.bbaw.de/presse/2004/bbaw_pr_03_2004.html|title=Press Bulletin BBAW/PR-03/2004|publisher=Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften | year=2004|accessdate=23 December 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041021061734/http://www.bbaw.de/presse/2004/bbaw_pr_03_2004.html |archivedate=21 October 2004}} * {{cite web|url=http://www.wams.de/data/2005/02/06/459188.html|title=''Friede Springer-die Biographie''|publisher=Welt am Sonntag|language=German|date=6 February 2005|accessdate=23 December 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051207062322/http://www.wams.de/data/2005/02/06/459188.html |archivedate=7 December 2005}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Springer, Friede}} Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:People from Oldsum Category:German Lutherans Category:Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians Category:German billionaires Category:Female billionaires Category:20th-century German newspaper publishers (people) Category:21st-century German newspaper publishers (people) Category:20th-century German businesswomen Category:20th-century German businesspeople Category:21st-century German businesswomen Category:21st-century German businesspeople Category:Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin Category:North Frisians Category:Axel Springer SE Friede Category:German socialites Category:German women philanthropists Category:German philanthropists