OREANDA-NEWS. Schibsted is stepping up to offer users and advertisers world-class products. A new organization with stronger focus on global Product and Technology will take the international group to the next level: Speedy, innovative and competitive. 

“We will build on our traditional strengths by being close to local markets, while at the same time taking advantage of our global reach. We believe this will enable us to deliver world-class products to our users and advertisers, and capture new and exciting growth opportunities,” says CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal.

Schibsted Media Group is one of the world’s leading media and online classified companies with presence in 30 countries and 200 million+ users. The last few years, Schibsted has invested heavily in building up product and technology capabilities and now see results. The Group has also attracted several top names within the field. To accelerate this impact further, product and tech is now strengthened in the organizational set-up.

In August 2015, Schibsted initiated a project led by Tina Stiegler to shape the Group’s organization for tomorrow. Schibsted has now decided to implement a matrix model centered around four geographies and much stronger group functions. A key target is to build national, data driven ecosystems of our services.

“We use the combined force of our popular marketplaces, media houses and growth services to build national ecosystems. To support this we take advantage of the global scale of the Group to build excellent digital products and technology for our companies. I am convinced that this will enable us to be even speedier, more innovative and more competitive,” says Rolv Erik Ryssdal.

Schibsted’s new model is simple and transparent, with clear accountability for P&L in the geographies. At the same time, the organization enables scale and speed in establishing Product and Technology as new global functions.

Terje Seljeseth will head Schibsted’s new product division. Schibsted Product will ensure scale in our global product development and enable global speed with top class local execution.

“Terje Seljeseth led the creation of Finn.no and built Schibsted Classified Media business from scratch to now being present in more than 30 countries. In doing so, he has led product development from generalist to vertical specialization, defining and maturing revenue models along the way. His accomplishments have earned him great respect, both within Schibsted and across the industry,” says Rolv Erik Ryssdal.

New names in the Group Management Team

Tina Stiegler will take charge of People, Change & Strategy and be accountable for global People/HR strategy and services as well as corporate strategy.

Gianpaolo Santorsola will be part of the new Group management as EVP Emerging Markets, responsible for assets in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Northern Africa.

Sondre Gravir will also join the Group Management Team as EVP Europe, Established Sites covering France, Spain, Italy and Austria. He will continue as CEO of FINN until August 2016.

“We have now decided on the overall structure and the Group management team. We will use the next few months to map out all the practical details to make the new organization work in the most efficient way. The changes will be implemented gradually during the coming weeks and months,” says Ryssdal.

Schibsted also acknowledges the strategic need to focus even more on disruptive innovation and long-term growth beyond the Group’s current publishing and marketplace businesses.

Frode Eilertsen will head a new initiative designed to develop a unicorn lab for the Group that can identify, fund, build and roll out unicorn-caliber growth ventures.

“Frode has an exceptional experience from working for many years in the USA with successful venture capital and start-up labs, bringing unique competence, network and experience. He has done an exceptional job in helping set the new strategic direction for Schibsted, driving our digital transformation and recruiting world-class competence, building up a new global tech & product organization. Since our future growth will seek to take advantage of Schibsted’s unique platform capabilities and strategic positions, he is uniquely qualified to lead this work, says Ryssdal.

Christian Printzell Halvorsen will continue as SVP Marketplace Products. He will step out of regular Group Management Team (K1) but continue to be part of the K1 strategy meetings. He will be based in Barcelona.

Schibsted's new Group Management Team:

  • Rolv Erik Ryssdal, CEO
  • Didrik Munch, EVP Norway
  • Raoul Grunthal, EVP Sweden
  • Gianpaolo Santorsola, EVP Emerging Markets
  • Sondre Gravir, EVP Europe, Established Sites
  • Trond Berger, EVP Chief Financial Officer
  • Tina Stiegler, EVP People and Strategy
  • Rian Liebenberg, EVP Chief Technology Officer
  • Terje Seljeseth, EVP Chief Product Officer
  • Lena K Samuelsson, EVP Communications & CSR