For Leo Kirch, it is all over. On April 8th, as KirchMedia, the free-TV and rights-trading group at the centre of his empire, filed for insolvency, the German media mogul sent a farewell letter to his employees, signing off "God bless". After 46 years in the trade, Mr Kirch had amassed a glittering array of assets, including several free-TV channels, Germany's sole national pay-TV broadcaster, the worldwide broadcasting rights to football's 2002 and 2006 World Cups and Formula One motor racing, and the rights to top-flight German football. Unfortunately, he amassed a mountain of debt too: bank debts of around EUD5.5 billion ($4.8 billion), and billions of euros in other liabilities. Kirch-Media's insolvency is surely only the beginning of Germany's most spectacular post-war corporate failure. The old man's departure apart, the future of KirchMedia and the other parts of Kirch is anything but clear. Within Kirch-Media, the one business that looks financially sound is ProSiebenSat.1, a large quoted free-TV broadcaster in which Kirch has a 52.5% stake.
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