Marc Al‑Hames, newly elected chairman of Hubert Burda Media’s board of directors, says a digital tax should be introduced to fund the aggressive growth of European technology firms. “I would think about a digital tax and invest the money in aggressive growth for tech companies in Europe” he told “Handelsblatt” (Friday edition).
Al‑Hames believes such a measure would help European businesses gradually reduce their dependence on U.S. digital hyperscalers and enable larger investments. “We need new entrepreneurial freedoms in Germany” he added. “We need a different capital allocation. An investment pledge of $110 billion in a financing round, like the one for OpenAI, can probably not be borne by any single company in Europe today”.
He took over the board chair in early 2024 and now works with the Burda heirs, Jacob Burda and Elisabeth Burda Furtwängler, to formulate a future strategy for the group. Hubert Burda Media generated about €2.7 billion in revenue in 2024. Its most well‑known journalistic brands include “Focus” and “Bunte”. In the investments arena, Burda is active through companies such as “Holiday Check” and “Xing”.
