Ludo Van Thillo

Ludo Van Thillo (2 February 1931 – 4 December 2022) was a Belgian businessman. In the 1970s and 1980s, he founded the company that was the beginning of DPG Media, which his son Christian would later expand.

Biography

Van Thillo was born in Borgerhout in 1931. He was a son of Cyriel Van Thillo, who bought publisher Patria in 1950. His brother was Herman Van Thillo, who was active in the financial sector and also a senator for the Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten (VLD).

The Van Thillo family owned the magazines Dag Allemaal and Joepie. In 1956, Van Thillo and his brother Joris became the owners of the family business, after their father had split the company into two parts: Printing and Rotogravure Astra; and Publisher Sparta. In 1987, the family, led by Ludo Van Thillo, bought the majority of Publisher Hoste, owner of the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws. In 1987, the company joined eight other shareholders in founding the Medialaan, the broadcasting company behind television channel VTM.

In 1989, Ludo Van Thillo stepped back ans his son Christian Van Thillo took over the business. Ludo van Thillo was honorary chairman of DPG Media. Ludo Van Thillo died on 4 December 2022 at home in Hove at the age of 91.

Van Thillo died in Hove on 4 December 2022, at the age of 91.