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Liz Mohn, a former secretary in the book-club division, has played a prominent role behind the scenes and was instrumental in firing Middelhoff. She and her husband have three children, two of whom work at Bertelsmann: Christoph, 37, who is the chief executive of the Internet affiliate Lycos Europe, and Brigitte, 38, who works at a company foundation. If Liz is trying to position her children to take over Bertelsmann, she isn't saying so.
But the company has been rattled by ferocious criticism from Reinhard Mohn. Last month, in a book about his management philosophy and in an accompanying essay published by a German newspaper, he wrote that he had underestimated the vanity of some executives: "The search for glory has incited many a manager to 'acts of heroism,' and not infrequently led to irresponsibly big investments." Reinhard added that he wants his family, led by Liz, to play a more forceful role at Bertelsmann by, for example, implementing the "fundamental principles of a humanistic corporate leadership," which in practice means avoiding layoffs whenever possible and managing by consensus rather than confrontation. The statements appeared to undermine current management, which has publicly expressed its irritation. CEO Gunter Thielen sent a memo to all Bertelsmann employees stressing that under German law, the executive board members--not the shareholders--are responsible for the management of the company.
Agnelli GIOVANNI AGNELLI & CO.
The future is cloudy for this family's flagship business, the carmaker Fiat, based in TURIN, ITALY. Losses are mounting, and their holdings' value has declined
Publicly Traded Assets: $4 billion
When Giovanni Agnelli died in January at age 81, all Italy mourned the passing of a legend. Handsome, dashing and impeccably connected, he personified Italy's growing postwar affluence. But by the end of his life, his family's affairs were a mess. In the two months since his death, his brother Umberto, 68, has stepped out of the shadows and is moving swiftly to realign management and shore up the finances of the Agnellis' prize asset, the 104-year-old automaker Fiat, which posted a $4.6 billion loss last year.
The Agnelli family long ago moved to diversify its wealth into stakes in such companies as Club Med and Danone, the world's biggest yogurt manufacturer. Whether or not Umberto succeeds in rescuing Fiat, the Agnellis face a vexing succession issue: there is no heir in the next generation. Giovanni's only son Edoardo killed himself two years ago, and Umberto's son Giovanni Alberto, who was being groomed as the successor, died of cancer in 1997. The burden of securing the family's financial future will probably fall to Giovanni's U.S.-born grandson John Elkann, who is just 26. Giovanni installed Elkann on Fiat's board in 1997, when he was only 21.
Wallenberg INVESTOR AB
Trouble with investments in Ericsson, ABB and technology firms has resulted in huge market losses in the past year for this family's industrial holding company, based in STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Family's Stake: nearly $1 billion