Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) chief executive Paul Zwillenberg is to step down on 30 September.
Lord Rothermere, DMGT’s proprietor, will become chief executive of the company and will also remain chairman. Zwillenberg will vacate the board of DMGT but remain a senior adviser to Rothermere.
Zwillenberg’s departure comes after he guided the company through a complex restructure and stock market de-listing, which completed earlier this year. Under the deal, the Rothermere family took full control of the publishing company, having previously owned 34% of shares.
In a message to staff on Thursday morning following a stock market announcement, Rothermere said: “I am immensely grateful to Paul for everything that he has done over the past six and a half years.
“The fact that we are now masters of our own destiny, having taken the company private at the beginning of this year, and have a bright future to look forward to is in large part thanks to him.”
Rothermere told staff that he will be “meeting with our senior leaders to discuss next steps and new ways of working” in the coming days.
In a separate note, Zwillenberg wrote: “An inevitable consequence of the strategy we put in place six and a half years ago, if it was successful, was that I would work myself out of a job.
“There could be no better expression of the success of that strategy than taking the business private at the end of last year which delivered so much value for the family and our shareholders.”
He added: “Together with the chairman and each and every one of you, we have achieved so much over the last six and a half years.
“We have transformed the group from top to bottom, setting it up for long-term success. Our businesses are number one in their markets.
“We’ve realised enormous value through the sale of businesses we’ve transformed and nurtured from Euromoney through RMS, along with acquisitions including the ’i’ and the New Scientist among others.
“And we thrived despite Covid, we played an active role in supporting all of our communities and we emerged stronger.”
DMGT publishes titles including the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Mail Online, Metro, New Scientist and the i.
Photo credit: David M. Benett/Getty Images
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