S tefan von Holtzbrinck is a German billionaire publisher and the chairman of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, one of the world's leading publishing conglomerates. He is the son of the company's founder, Georg von Holtzbrinck. Along with his half-sister, Monika Schoeller, and his half-brother, Dieter von Holtzbrinck (who later sold his stake), Stefan inherited the family's extensive media empire. The Holtzbrinck Group owns a vast and prestigious portfolio of publishing houses, particularly in the English-speaking world.

Under Stefan's leadership, the group has navigated the challenging transition from print to digital media. Its key holdings include Macmillan Publishers, a major global trade publisher which owns influential imprints like Farrar, Straus and Giroux and St. Martin's Press. The group is also a dominant force in academic and scientific publishing through its majority ownership of Springer Nature. Stefan has also steered the family's investments into new areas, including educational technology and venture capital, through his firm, Holtzbrinck Digital.