Media chief to be replaced

Monday, July 29, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

BERLIN -- Bertelsmann AG, the world's third-biggest media company, said Sunday that Chief Executive Thomas Middelhoff will be replaced after he clashed with shareholders over corporate strategy.

The privately held German company, whose assets range from broadcaster RTL to Britney Spears' record company, named veteran insider Gunter Thielen as Middelhoff's replacement.

Meanwhile, phone giant Deutsche Telekom declined to comment on a newspaper report that it was lining up Middelhoff as the long-term successor to its recently ousted chief executive, Ron Sommer.

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