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: won control of RTL, the television group which alongside Arvato has driven Bertelsmann’s growth in recent years. Mr Ostrowski’s bold decision to put Direct Group under strategic review suggests that he will be a strong chief executive at the family-owned firm.

Mr Ostrowski grew up in Bielefeld, near Bertelsmann’s headquarters in Gütersloh. “He’s a real Westpha-lian,” says a former Bertelsmann executive who knows him well, “sober-minded, down-to-earth, reliable and not into sophisticated intrigues.” Mr Ostrowski became interested in business aged 11, after delving into the ledgers of his father’s plumbing firm. After a degree at the local university he joined Bertelsmann’s distribution division. In 1988 he decided to broaden his horizons and went to work for an American bank, setting up its operations in Frankfurt and Munich, but he returned to Bertelsmann two years later.

In 1990, when Mr Ostrowski took over Bertelsmann’s distribution division, it was merely shipping books and CDs for the firm and for other German companies. He won new contracts to ship mobile phones for telecoms firms, moved into customer-relationship management for airlines and other industries, and expanded the division’s operations into Poland, Spain, Italy, France, America and Asia; it now employs about 2,000 people in China.

Arvato, as the division was named in 1999, even handles the billing when people click on Google ads. Most traditional media companies are scared of Google because it is drawing advertising revenue away from them, but Bertelsmann is quietly making money from the internet giant.

“For years not everyone was proud of this business,” says Mr Ostrowski, “but now everyone is.” Arvato has scope to grow further as more firms outsource back-office activities. It also expects to find new customers among European governments. Since 2005 it has taken on tax administration for a local authority in the north of England, and will soon start a pilot project handling passports and health insurance for a branch of local government in Bavaria. Mr Ostrowski also wants to move into education.

Who needs glamour?

Mr Ostrowski, whose stated goal is to revive growth at Bertelsmann, has never been in direct charge of any of its media businesses. Last year only Arvato and RTL grew; revenues from recorded music, book publishing and book clubs fell, and overall the company achieved organic revenue growth of just 0.4%. That is likely to mean more disposals.