Kirch's family said in a brief statement that he passed away peacefully on Thursday. It gave no further details. At its height, the media mogul's holdings included a film rights trading business, stakes in publisher Axel Springer Verlag AG and in ProSiebenSat.1, Germany's second-biggest TV broadcaster, and a majority stake in Formula One motor racing.

Kirch's media empire crumbled in 2002 under billions of dollars in debt along with a money-losing venture into pay television and acquisitions that didn't pay off.