Bertelsmann Foundation
 |
|
| Motto | Inspiring People. Shaping the Future. |
|---|---|
| Formation | February 8, 1979 |
| Founder | Reinhard Mohn |
| Type | Foundation |
| Headquarters | Gütersloh, Germany |
|
Area served
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Europe United States |
| Owner | the Mohn family |
|
Budget
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€60.3 million (2010) |
|
Employees
|
328 (2013) |
| Website | www |
The Bertelsmann Foundation (German: Bertelsmann Stiftung) is the largest private operating non-profit foundation in Germany, created in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn. As of 2013, the Bertelsmann Foundation holds 77.4 percent of Bertelsmann, the German multinational mass media corporation.
For decades, Reinhard Mohn authored numerous books on corporate social responsibility. In 1977, he started the Bertelsmann Foundation to promote alternative forms of social, political and economic order. In 1993, he transferred 69 percent of his shares in Bertelsmann AG to the foundation, making it the media enterprise’s biggest shareholder. Following the will of Mohn, the foundation has been dedicated to European unity and Transatlantic cooperation since its inception.
The Bertelsmann Foundation is active in political, social, economic, educational, cultural and health-related issues. It does not provide grants, scholarships or project funding to others, but focuses on researching, publishing and stimulating public debate on its topics. It is active worldwide and has since inception spent around €868 million on nonprofit projects. When Bertelsmann's dividend payment to the foundation fell by a third to about €63 million in 2003, the Bertelsmann Foundation’s budget was drastically cut by €7 million ($8.1 million) from €72 million the following year. The total budget for the 2010 fiscal year was €60.3 million, according to the foundation's annual report.
The Bertelsmann Foundation is based in Gütersloh, with offices in Berlin, Brussels, and Barcelona. In order to open an office in Washington D.C., the foundation created a legally independent foundation, the Bertelsmann Foundation North America, in 2008.
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