Overview
Gert was appointed CEO of Mediahuis in 2013 following the merger of Corelio and Concentra. Before that, he held key management roles at Corelio, where he served as publisher of De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad. He studied communication and completed an executive MBA.
Under his leadership, Mediahuis has more than quadrupled revenues from EUR 285M to EUR 1.2B and expanded from a 1,000-person Belgian publisher to a 4,500-person international group. Acquisitions under his tenure include NRC Media and Telegraaf Media Groep in the Netherlands, Independent News and Media in Ireland, Saint-Paul Luxembourg, and Medienhaus Aachen in Germany. He has served as President of the International News Media Association (INMA) since May 2024.
Career Highlights
- CEO of Mediahuis since 2013, overseeing 4x revenue growth through international expansion
- Led acquisitions in the Netherlands, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Germany
- President of INMA (International News Media Association) since 2024
- Previously publisher of De Standaard and Het NieuwsbladCorelio
In the news
- What keeps you awake at night?" Danny Lein opens our CEO Panel with the same question every year. This time he's asking Gert Ysebaert (CEO, Mediahuis nv) and Stig Kirk Ørskov (CEO, WAN-IFRA, the World Association of News Publishers). Both have led major media groups through more than a decade of transformation. Both have also led the industry's umbrella organisations — Gert as the past president of INMA, Stig now at the helm of WAN-IFRA. Read why we've invited them on stage this year: https://lnkd.in/e2ccMiH9 Their insights
- What keeps you awake at night?” I have opened our DGS CEO Panel with the same question for years. On 15 October, I will put it to two of Europe’s most experienced #news media leaders: Gert Ysebaert and Stig Kirk Ørskov. It is a particularly meaningful pairing for me. Gert is the reason I know Stig. Years ago, when I was trying to find Twipe’s footing beyond Belgium, he introduced us. It was a simple gesture—but an important one for our journey. Their careers took different paths. Gert came through management and helped build
- Do you already have plans for October 15? That day, we’re bringing the news industry together in Leuven for the 9th edition of the Twipe Digital Growth Summit. We have an outstanding line-up of speakers — including Gert Ysebaert, Stig Kirk Ørskov, Ezra Eeman, Bart BECKS, Joris Himpens and Julien De Wit — but there are many more reasons to join us. Probably the most important one: this is not just another conference. It is a unique gathering of like-minded professionals who want to move the needle through technology and help shape
- The Digital Growth Summit agenda is live! Spend the day with 140 senior media leaders working through one question: how is technology reshaping the future of news? Here is who is answering it on 15 October, in Leuven👇 The CEOs setting the direction: → Gert Ysebaert (CEO, Mediahuis nv) → Stig Kirk Ørskov (CEO, WAN-IFRA, the World Association of News Publishers) The researchers who see it first: → Nic Newman (Senior Research Associate, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism) on the industry's latest benchmark research →
- There is one thing we deliberately don’t want the Twipe Digital Growth Summit to be: A conference where you sit, listen, take a few notes — and go home. From the start, we wanted DGS to be different. We bring together a relatively small group of people who are actively shaping the future of news. And we expect them to do more than listen. Challenge the speakers. Share what works — and what doesn’t. Debate with your peers. Contribute your own experience. Because some of the most valuable insights don’t come from the stage.
- You can’t control the waves. But you can become better at navigating them. During my holiday in Northern Norway last week, I finally got around to reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Antifragile. It left me thinking about a question much closer to home: How antifragile is the news industry? Taleb distinguishes between fragile systems, which suffer from shocks; robust systems, which withstand them; and antifragile systems, which actually become stronger because of them. Over the past 25 years, the news industry has already faced two
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