When, more than 20 years ago, he tried to acquire the legendary UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph, was defeated by the multimillion-dollar offer of the Barclay brothers, two adventurous and multimillionaire twins, with hotels, casinos and breweries, who took the reins of a key journalistic institution to understand the turbulent decade of Brexit.
Now, in a twist of fate, Döpfner, who had already publicly given up on his dream, was in constant trouble since an embargo forced the twins to get rid of him., but also new digital formats such as Politico o Business Insider which has revolutionized the international journalistic scene with fresh air and success, will pay 575 million pounds sterling (about 664 million euros) for the leading newspaper of the British conservatives, and thus reinforces a center-right editorial offer, defender of the free market, strongly in favor of the Atlantic Alliance and the Government of Israel.
“More than 20 years ago we tried to acquire the Telegraph and we didn’t make it. Today our dreams come true. Owning this institution of quality British journalism is a privilege and a responsibility,” said Döpfner.
The management of Axel Springer has committed to preserving the editorial independence of the newspaper and, for the moment, the director, Chris Evans, will remain in their positions; the director of the Sunday edition, the Sunday TelegraphAllister Heath, and the executive director of Telegraph Media Group (TMG), owner of the newspaper, Anna Jones.
The battle for the newspaper
The Barclay twins lost ownership of the Telegraph in 2023, as a result of the huge debt of more than 1,850 million euros that they accumulated with Lloyds bank.
The RedBird IMI fund, 75% controlled by Sheikh Mansur bin Zayed Al Nayan, vice president of the United Arab Emirates and owner of the Manchester City football club, assumed control of the newspaper after settling the debt with Lloyds.
The British Government, however, forced him to sell the newspaper, by passing a law that prohibited the acquisition of British media by foreign governments, or by individuals linked to them and acting as intermediaries. An ownership limit of 15% was imposed for these economic actors.
RedBirdIMI has been maintaining contacts with Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), owner of media such as the Daily Mail o Metro, and chaired by Jonathan Hamsworth, ‘Lord Rothemere’, a British press magnate. The offer he had put on the table, 500 million pounds (about 577 million euros), seemed enough to acquire the newspaper and expand a purely British press conglomerate with a clear conservative tendency.
The surprise came with the blow of Axel Springer. Döpfner, 63, also sits on the board of directors of Netflix and Warner Music. He started out as a music journalist, eventually managing the legendary publication The world and since 2002 he has been the executive director of the media giant.
When investing in The Telegraphhe explained, Axel Springer aspires to turn the newspaper “into the leading center-right media outlet in the English-speaking world,” with the intention of expanding its presence in the United States, helped by the experience already accumulated by two successful adventures as Politico y Business Insider.
“Editorial independence is sacrosanct at Axel Springer,” said Döpfner. “We believe that the best way to safeguard it is through economic and financial success, and we see massive growth potential for TMG. Technological excellence and transformation, with the best AI tools, will be key to our mission,” he said.
