The 'finance whiz and music lover', who played in a punk rock band in his youth, is set to replace current CEO, Hartmut Ostrowski, at the turn of the year.

Rabe previously wanted to leave Bertelsmann but was persuaded to stay.

A colleague of Rabe's said: "It's high time that he takes on this position. All in all he has been a financial officer for 11 years, first at RTL Group then for all of Bertelsmann ... I think he ...