Gülsah Wilke

Gülsah Wilke is an investor at Axel Springer leading significant parts of the investment activities. She also leads the Group’s Pricing & Monetization team. Furthermore, as a member of the Supervisory Board of StepStone, Gülsah was instrumental in shaping the success of Axel Springer’s biggest portfolio company and the leading e-recruitment player in the western world. Previously, she steered the Axel Springer Silicon Valley office, identified partnership and investment opportunities for Axel Springer, and built a digital transatlantic hub for corporate partners consisting of a renowned network of startups and investors. Previously, she worked at McKinsey & Company and IBM, advising numerous Executive Boards of international companies in their strategic/ digital transformation across various industries, in particular Tech and Media. Gülsah has studied International Management at EBS and holds a Master’s Degree with distinction.

She is committed inside and outside of Axel Springer to strengthening transatlantic relations as well as a constructive, open dialogue that aims at deepening cooperation between Germany, Europe, and Northern America at all levels. Among others by being a Young Leader of the Atlantik-Brücke.  

As one of the few female executives at Axel Springer, she is the founder of Axel Springer_WoMen, the first global network to support women in leadership positions, promote equal pay and mentor female talents (tech, product, finance). 

As the granddaughter of Turkish immigrants, she is the first in her family to be born in Germany and the first ever to study at a university. After more than eleven successful years in the tech industry, she uses her experience, expertise, and network as the Co-Founder of the 2Hearts Tech Community (supported by the Deutschlandstiftung Integration) to empower talents with a migration background. She believes that Germany, as the world's second-oldest country (by population) after Japan, can do more to educate and leverage young talent with a migration background to strengthen Germany as an IT skill and leadership hub both in Europe and globally.

Previously, Gülsah worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and IBM advising international companies from various industries, primarily tech and media, on strategic and digital transformation. Gülsah studied International Management at EBS with a full scholarship from the Vodafone Foundation (Vodafone Chancen) and completed her Master’s degree with distinction.

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