In 2000 Thomas Middelhoff, Bertelsmann's chief executive at the time, nearly sold all its book clubs to Readers Digest, but the firm's founding family decided they could be turned around.

在2000年，贝塔斯曼董事长Thomas Middelhoff几乎就要把所有书友会卖给《读者文摘》了，可公司的创始家族认为情况会好转的，于是否决了这个想法。

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Aside from Bertelsmann, whose newish boss, Thomas Middelhoff, is 46, they are run by old and oldish men Rupert Murdoch, Sumner Redstone and Gerald Levin.

ECONOMIST: The net gets real

Thomas Middelhoff, its chief executive until 2002, had wanted to take Bertelsmann public, but Reinhard Mohn and his family, the dominant shareholders, have always been unenthusiastic.

ECONOMIST: German companies