Bastei Lübbe AG: Publisher and majority shareholder Stefan Lübbe (57) dies unexpectedly

Bastei Lübbe AG: Publisher and majority shareholder Stefan Lübbe (57) dies unexpectedly

Cologne, 14 October 2014. Stefan Lübbe (57) yesterday died suddenly and unexpectedly during a trip abroad. The publisher and majority shareholder of Bastei Lübbe AG (ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) succumbed to a heart attack in the south of France.

The Supervisory Board, Management Board and employees of Bastei Lübbe AG offer the family of the deceased their deepest condolences.

Stefan Lübbe was born on 4 August 1957 in Bergisch Gladbach, the son of the founders of the publishing company Gustav H. Lübbe (+ 1995) and Ursula Lübbe. After qualifying as a banker, he studied business in Cologne and earned his MBA in Fort Worth, South Texas (USA). After spending a year as a trainee at Burda Verlag, he joined Bastei Lübbe as a special editions editor. From 1987 to 1994 he was the Deputy Head of Publishing for the newspapers division, then he took over for youth and new media until 1996, and then became a partner and member of the Advisory Board. From September 2001 to September 2002 Stefan Lübbe was the management spokesman, from September 2002 to December 2006 a member of the Supervisory Board, and from May 2007 he was the management chairman. When the company went public in October 2013, Lübbe remained the majority shareholder.

As a publisher, Stefan Lübbe continued the traditions of his parents and took particular care of the authors. It was highly important to him and his wife Birgit that "their" authors felt that they were in good hands at the publishing group, and that they - together with the staff - saw themselves as part of the big Lübbe family. He had a keen interest in technology and greatly supported the young Bastei Entertainment division, which is responsible for the implementation of digital content and content development, nationally and internationally. He also originated the notion that the company should always take a 360 view of its content, ensuring that it is as comprehensively exhausted as possible.

Birgit Lübbe will inherit the publishing business and safeguard the family's business interests.

The operating structure of Bastei Lübbe AG will not be changed. Stefan Lübbe had already passed the operational business management to the Management Board in 2013.

Stefan Lübbe lived with his wife in Bergisch Gladbach and had one daughter.

About Bastei Lübbe AG:


Bastei Lübbe AG is a publically held media company organised around its publishing venture. The Cologne-based company currently has around 335 employees. It publishes books, audio books, ebooks and digital products in both the literary and popular science genres, as well as serialised novels and puzzle magazines. Bastei Lübbe is also actively involved in brand licensing and the development, production and distribution of gift, decoration and merchandising articles. Bastei Lübbe has for many years enjoyed an almost unbroken streak as the market leader in the growing segment of hard-cover literature; in 2013 its literary ebooks division was also ranked number one on the market. 2013 saw the company's 60th anniversary celebration and its launch as a publicly traded company. Shares of Bastei Lübbe AG are listed in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (WKN A1X3YY, ISIN DE000A1X3YY0).

Contact for Bastei Lübbe AG:
Barbara Fischer
Director of PR and Event Marketing
Tel.: +49 (0) 221 / 82 00 28 50
E-Mail: barbara.fischer@luebbe.de