The media giant has been involved in high profile deals this year

Mr Schulte-Hillen is leaving the media group after clashing with company chief executive Gunter Thielen.

Divisions have emerged over a series of high-stakes, high-profile deals undertaken by the giant media group.

Bertelsmann is due to report third-quarter results on Thursday.

Merger Mania

Bertelsmann, which includes the fifth largest record company in the world, is currently negotiating a 50-50 joint venture with Sony, the music industry leader.

The deal was queried by the supervisory board but was driven on by senior management, led by Mr Thielen.

Mr Schulte-Hillen's departure now strengthens the position of the chief executive. But it also makes private splits on the company embarrassingly public.

"There had been different views between the Supervisory Board Chairman and Bertelsmann Chairman and CEO Gunter Thielen on the strategic direction of the company," Bertelsmann said in a statement.

One such division emerged over a failed �300m ($500m) bid for Time Warner's publishing division earlier this year.

Sony and BMG, Bertelsmann's music arm, made a submission on their proposed deal to the European Commission earlier this week.