Axel Springer SE (German pronunciation: [ˈaksl̩ ˈʃpʁɪŋɐ ɛsˈeː]) is a European multinational mass and online media company, based in Berlin, Germany.

The company offers printing and publishing of advertisements, digital classifieds portfolio, marketing models and related services.

In the United States, Axel Springer is ranked among the top four digital publishers, alongside USA Today, News Corp, and The New York Times.

[24] After the attack on the student leader Rudi Dutschke on 11 April 1968, the APO (Extra-Parliamentary Opposition) began acts of violence against the company.

[25] For instance, in the wake of the killing of Benno Ohnesorg by the police at a student demonstration against the Shah, one Springer paper reported that "what happened yesterday in Berlin had nothing to do with politics ….

In May 1999, Axel Springer bought a 51% majority stake in the American television production company GRB Entertainment, but was later divested in 2002.

[34] In 2010 a $635.7 million offer by Axel for leading French real estate website operator seloger.com caused seloger shares to rise as much as 32%, the most since it went public.

[42][43] In October of the same year, the company expanded its Berlin headquarters with the completion of the Axel Springer Campus, a cube-shaped office building designed by Rem Koolhaas and OMA.

[46] In July 2024, reports emerged that Axel Springer and private equity group KKR were in talks to potentially split the media conglomerate.

The proposed deal would separate the group's media assets, including Politico, Business Insider, Bild, and Die Welt, from its digital classifieds operations such as StepStone and Aviv.

[49][50] In October 2020, Axel Springer and Insider Inc. acquired Morning Brew, a media startup that focuses on business newsletters and podcasts, for around $75 million.

[56][57] Gudrun Kruip, a scholar associated with the Stiftung Bundespräsident-Theodor-Heuss-Haus, has claimed that Axel Springer SE, along with its subsidiaries, exhibits a pro-American stance, often omitting criticism of US foreign policy.

[58] As of 2001, the Axel Springer SE names "solidarity with the libertarian values of the United States of America" as one of its core principles on its website.

[58][61][62][63][64] Furthermore, an article in Foreign Policy has critiqued Axel Springer SE for a history of compromising journalistic ethics to support right-wing causes, implying a longstanding pattern of bias in its publications.

[65] Upon acquisition of Insider in 2015, and again in 2021 with Politico, Mathias Döpfner allegedly stated that staff would need to adhere to Axel Springer's principles, including support for a united Europe, "reconciliation between Germans and Jews"[66] and Israel's right to exist and a free-market economy, and that staff who disagree with the principles "should not work for Axel Springer, very clearly".

[67][68] In an interview with New York Magazine, Döpfner emphasized that Axel Springer's commitment to these core principles, particularly the right of Israel to exist, stems from Germany's historical context rather than activism.

He also insists that journalistic integrity remains paramount, clarifying that the company's stance does not equate to uncritical support of Israel, but recognizes its right to exist in light of historical threats.

[69] In 2017, Mark Dekan of Ringier Axel Springer Polska expressed support for European unity and the role of free media in a letter to employees, amidst political debates in Poland.

[70][71] In March 2021, Der Spiegel reported accusations that the editor of Bild, Julian Reichelt, had promoted several young female employees in exchange for sex and sought to buy their silence before dismissing them.

The website publishes real estate listings across Israel, including rental apartments and sales in Israeli settlements that are considered illegal under international law.