Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 28, 2026

Brigitte Mohn

Brigitte Mohn is the heiress of Reinhard Mohn and chairwoman of the executive board of the Bertelsmann Stiftung. She is a shareholder of the Bertelsmann Verwaltungsgesellschaft (BVG) and a member of the supervisory boards of the Bertelsmann group. Mohn is also chairwoman of the board of trustees of the German Stroke Foundation.

Last revised
Jun 28, 2026
Read time
≈ 5 min
Length
1,059 w
Citations
35
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Brigitte Mohn
Mohn in 2016
Born
Brigitte Scholz

(1964-06-28) 28 June 1964
Stuttgart-Degerloch, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Alma mater
OccupationsChairwoman of the Executive Board, Bertelsmann Stiftung
Board member of
  • Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, German Stroke Foundation
  • Deputy Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board, Phineo
  • Member of the Supervisory Boards, Bertelsmann group
Parents
RelativesChristoph Mohn (brother)
AwardsErika Pitzer Prize, 2018

Brigitte Mohn (née Scholz, born 28 June 1964) is the heiress of Reinhard Mohn and chairwoman of the executive board of the Bertelsmann Stiftung.1 She is a shareholder of the Bertelsmann Verwaltungsgesellschaft (BVG) and a member of the supervisory boards of the Bertelsmann group.2 Mohn is also chairwoman of the board of trustees of the German Stroke Foundation.3

Life

Mohn is one of six children of the billionaire media entrepreneur Reinhard Mohn, who died in 2009.45 Her mother, Liz Mohn, chairs the board of her own foundation, the Liz Mohn Stiftung.6

After completing her secondary education (Abitur) in 1984, Mohn initially wanted to become a doctor,7 but decided to study political science, art history and German philology at the universities of Bamberg, Münster and Augsburg.8 In 1993, she received her doctorate from the Witten-Herdecke University.1 In 2001, she completed an MBA at Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar, Germany, and the Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois, United States.9

Career

Brigitte Mohn began her career in 1993 as an editor at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.10 She then moved to the Bantam Doubleday Dell publishing group in New York City, where she headed the academic marketing department.11 She also worked in the children's book division of Random House and at the Canadian Doubleday book clubs.12 From 1997 to 1998, Mohn was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in Hamburg, Germany, before moving to Switzerland for her job at Pixelpark until 2000.8

Mohn entered foundation work at the end of 2000.13 From 2001 to 2014, she was chairwoman of the executive board of the German Stroke Foundation,1 which was established by her mother, Liz Mohn, in 1993.1415 In 2014, she took over the chair of the board of trustees.3

After joining the Bertelsmann Stiftung in 2002, where she was responsible for the health division,12 Mohn was appointed to the executive board at the beginning of 2005.1617 She is responsible for the programs covering health, sustainable communities, digitalization, and the common good. On 1 August 2025, she took over as chairwoman of the executive board.18

In 2008, Mohn joined the Bertelsmann Verwaltungsgesellschaft,1920 which controls the voting rights at the shareholders' meeting;21 additionally, she was appointed to the group's supervisory board, where Mohn represents the sixth generation of the owner family.2223

Other activities

  • Phineo, Deputy Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board24
  • Stiftung RTL – Wir helfen Kindern, Member of the Board of Trustees25
  • Rhön-Klinikum, Member of the Supervisory Board (2002–2020)2627

Awards

  • 2016: Honorary Prize for Social Entrepreneurship from Ernst & Young28
  • 2018: Ethics in Business Award of the International Association for Human Values (IAHV)29
  • 2018: Erika Pitzer Prize of the Willy Robert Pitzer Foundation30

Publications

  • Brigitte Mohn, Monika Kirschner (2005). Risiko Schlaganfall: kompetent vorbeugen, Alarmsignale erkennen, richtig handeln, Folgen vermeiden (in German). Köln: Egmont VGS. ISBN 3-8025-1696-6.
  • Liz Mohn, Brigitte Mohn, Werner Weidenfeld, Johannes Meier (2006). Werte. Was die Gesellschaft zusammenhält (in German). Gütersloh: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung. ISBN 3-89204-908-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Brigitte Mohn (2010). "Es gibt Werte, die für mich gesetzt sind". In Stefanie Unger (ed.). Vertrauen ist gut: Werte in der Krise oder Krise der Werte? (in German). Frankfurt am Main: Frankfurter Allgemeine Buch. ISBN 978-3-89981-207-7.
References

References

  1. "Brigitte Mohn". Internationales Biographisches Archiv (in German). Munzinger. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  2. "Personalien: Mohn im Bertelsmann-Aufsichtsrat". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 18 December 2007. p. 16.
  3. "Kuratorium" (in German). Stiftung Deutsche Schlaganfall-Hilfe. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  4. Matthew Karnitschnig (8 December 2003). "Die komplizierte Romanze der Liz Mohn". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  5. Günther Bähr, Tatjana Meier (8 December 2003). "Bertelsmann: Szenen einer Ehe". Focus (in German). p. 188.
  6. "Gütersloher Unternehmerin Liz Mohn gründet neue Stiftung". Neue Westfälische (in German). 21 February 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  7. Petra Schlitt (27 August 2007). "Brigitte Mohn: Vom Imperium befreit". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  8. Nina Klöckner (31 October 2007). "Die Vielseitige: Nicht ohne meine Familie". Financial Times Deutschland (in German). p. 30.
  9. Jon Christoph Berndt (17 October 2008). "Bertelsmann-Erbin Brigitte Mohn: Mensch, Marke!". Handelsblatt (Perspektiven) (in German). p. 19.
  10. Inga Michler (1 October 2005). "Bertelsmann und die Familie Mohn" (in German). p. 11.
  11. Stefan Brams (8 April 2004). "Die Frühschwimmerin: Brigitte Mohn spricht über ihre Arbeit und ihr Leben". Neue Westfälische (in German).
  12. Dagmar von Taube (4 August 2002). "Die zweite "Bertelsfrau": Liz Mohn ist ihr großes Vorbild". Welt am Sonntag (in German). p. 12. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  13. "Schön & klug: Die Bertelsfrauen". Bunte (in German). 24 April 2003. p. 56.
  14. Pete Smith (28 August 2009). "Wirksame Strategien gegen den Schlaganfall". Ärzte-Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  15. "Stiftung setzt auf Prävention und Aufklärung". Frankfurter Neue Presse (in German). 2 June 1998. p. 4.
  16. Hans-Peter Siebenhaar (20 July 2004). "Der langsame Aufstieg von Brigitte Mohn". Handelsblatt (in German). p. 16.
  17. "Bertelsmann Stiftung neu organisiert". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). 21 July 2004. p. 11.
  18. "Bertelsmann Stiftung stellt Vorstand neu auf". Die Stiftung (in German). 6 June 2025. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  19. "Bertelsmann: Mehr Macht für die Familie". Der Spiegel (in German). 10 February 2003. p. 81.
  20. "Brigitte Mohn rückt auf". Neue Westfälische (in German). 12 February 2003.
  21. "Reinhard Mohn verzichtet auf seine Stimmrechte". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). 2 July 1999. p. 13.
  22. "Brigitte Mohn zieht in Aufsichtsrat ein". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). 18 December 2007. p. 7.
  23. "Mohn im Aufsichtsrat". Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). 18 December 2007. p. 23.
  24. "Gremien" (in German). Phineo. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  25. "Gremien" (in German). Stiftung RTL – Wir helfen Kindern. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  26. "Personalien: Wechsel im Rhön-Aufsichtsrat". Börsen-Zeitung (in German). 17 May 2002. p. 7.
  27. Stefan Kritzer (20 August 2020). "Münch verlässt Aufsichtsrat von Rhön-Klinikum". Main-Post (in German). p. 16.
  28. "Brigitte Mohn: Einsatz für das Gemeinwohl". Handelsblatt (in German). 21 November 2016. p. 53.
  29. "Ethics in Business Awards". World Forum for Ethics in Business. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  30. "Brigitte Mohn erhält Erika-Pitzer-Preis". Süddeutsche Zeitung (dpa) (in German). 5 September 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
External links