At 62, the journalist-turned-chief executive officer is clearly the top dog at the conservative-leaning publisher. In April longtime partner KKR & Co. bought Springer’s classified ads unit, a money engine for years, for about €10 billion. That left Döpfner and Friede Springer, the widow of the company’s founder, with the rest of the company, valued at roughly €3.5 billion, and a pile of cash. Together, they now control and own 98% of the remaining media business.