Dirk Gerkens, born in 1968, joined RTL Group in 1995 as deputy to the Head of TV activities.  After studying economics and journalism, he started his career in 1992 as deputy to the CEO of the Barcelona based bookclub of Bertelsmann. In 1997, he was part of the launch team of a TV channel in Hungary.  He was appointed CEO of RTL Klub in 2001 and is involved in the development of RTL Group in Central and Eastern Europe.