The Kaiser once lived next door, so it seems fitting that a hint of courtly ritual infuses the start of the party that Bertelsmann has thrown at its Berlin offices, a reconstructed palazzo that adjoins the void where the royal palace stood.

In the spacious hallway, atop a low flight of steps, Liz Mohn, head of the dynasty that controls Europe’s largest media company, stands dressed in cream-coloured silk to welcome celebrities, politicians, and business types. Attentively at her side is Gunter Thielen, her chief executive, who retires next year. And behind her quietly mill the fortysomethings on the board, who are in the line to succeed their boss – an anointment Ms Mohn will make in the coming months.