Capitalizing on the Crisis Next Door: Eric Gujer Steps Down as NZZ Editor

After twelve years of steering Switzerland’s most prominent journalistic export, Eric Gujer is relinquishing the editor-in-chief’s chair at the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. The sixty-four-year-old will step down in early 2027, concluding a long administrative reign to become the NZZ’s publisher for Germany. For four decades, Gujer has been a fixture at the Zurich-based institution, previously serving as its foreign editor. Now, he leaves daily newsroom management to focus on a neighboring country that has become a highly lucrative market for the Swiss publication.

Under Gujer’s leadership, the NZZ aggressively expanded its footprint across the northern border. Germany currently finds itself entangled in a web of its own making, suffering from disastrous energy policies, high inflation, and a painfully weak political class. As the German public sphere grows increasingly hostile to dissenting conservative-liberal views, the NZZ has offered a detached alternative. Gujer recognized that a wealthy, somewhat naive Switzerland was the perfect vantage point from which to dissect Germany's self-inflicted wounds.

The financial vindication of this strategy is evident in the latest ledger. In the first half of 2026, the NZZ group reported a loss of 3.4 million Swiss francs. This deficit stems entirely from a one-off accounting effect tied to the sale of its remaining stake in CH Media.

Stripping away that anomaly, the operational business remains robust. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes climbed by 2.6 percent to 5.1 million francs. Revenue from the reader market jumped by seven percent to nearly fifty million francs, driven by premium subscriptions and the German readership. Digital advertising revenues expanded by eight percent.

Finding a successor to maintain this momentum is the immediate challenge for the Zurich media group. A decision is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. Management has signaled a strong preference for elevating an internal candidate, though external options are being vetted. Whoever takes the helm will inherit a newsroom that has successfully monetized its position as a sharp observer of political decline.

Gujer’s transition into the publisher role in February 2027 frees him to concentrate on the broader strokes of international politics. He will assume responsibility for strengthening the paper's presence in a country rapidly losing its economic footing. Alongside this mandate, he will head the event series NZZ Podium and continue hosting the television program NZZ Standpunkte. It is a fitting third act for a newspaperman who realized that chronicling a neighboring giant's crisis is excellent business for a comfortably rich Swiss institution.

Written by Andreas Hofer andreas.hofer@alpineweekly.com