Philipp Freise

Philipp Freise, Director, has been with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. since 2001 and heads KKR's European Media Industry team. Freise led KKR's investment in BMG Rights Management, and played a significant role in various other KKR media (SBS Broadcasting, ProSiebenSat.1) and German transactions (Demag, Zumtobel, MTU Aero Engines, Duales System Deutschland - Der Grüne Punkt, A.T.U.). Freise currently serves on the Board of Directors of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG and BMG Rights Management.

Freise was a scholar of the German National Scholarship foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes) and graduated top of his class at WHU Koblenz, EDHEC Lille and University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business.  He later worked at McKinsey & Company in Vienna, Frankfurt and New York, and subsequently co-founded Berlin-based investment firm Venturepark, which was sponsored by Bertelsmann, Goldman Sachs and DaimlerChrysler, among others.

In 2007, Freise was ranked as Europe's leading private equity specialist in the Financial News "Rising Stars" list, placing him 1st out of 300 Europe-based candidates under the age of 40.  In 2009, Freise was named a Young Leader in Atlantik-Bruecke, as well as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum - through which he has focused on innovation though entrepreneurial capital.