The rising economic tide that lifted them to the upper reaches of German industry has gone out and the chief executives idolised in the good old days are now being derided. The era of chief executive as celebrity has ended abruptly in Germany, as dull and boring have returned as desirable criteria

Germans are addicted to what looks like a new reality show playing out on their television screens as leading chief executives are voted out of the "Big Business" house. But this isn't some hybrid of Big Brother and The Weakest Link, this is reality.

Three weeks ago, Dr Ron Sommer, chief executive of Deutsche Telekom, was voted out of the "Big Business" house. He was followed this week by Mr Thomas Middelhoff, the chief executive of Bertelsmann, the fifth-largest media conglomerate in the world.

On the surface, the two men's departures have little in common. Sommer left behind record losses and debts while Middelhoff's Bertelsmann posted record profits last year.

But both men were members of the small but growing group of celebrity chief executives in Germany. Both were PR-trained professionals with expensive suits who broke the mould of the grey man, consensus management style of Deutschland plc, the term for the German business establishment.

But the rising economic tide that lifted them to the upper reaches of German industry has gone out and the chief executives idolised in the good old days are now being derided. The days of Germany's celebrity chief executives look numbered.

The celebrity chief executive floated into Germany on the internet bubble. Young internet entrepreneurs were fêted as the next big thing. Then the trend began to spread to the old economy.

The new influence of star chief executives is borne out by a study conducted by the Emnid polling institute. More than two-thirds of those surveyed said their opinion of companies listed on Germany's DAX market was determined by the chief executive rather than the board.

Nearly half of those surveyed admitted to being highly influenced by the reputation of the chief executive when they bought stocks. The same number said they continued to believe a company, even if it received negative publicity, as long as the image of the chief executive was in good shape. Around 57 per cent said they watched a company more closely in the media if they thought highly of its chief executive.

Like the stars of Big Brother, chief executives of Germany's most powerful companies are now as much media creations as business men. For the first time, German investors and employees could build up a relationship with a company through its chief executive, if only through the media.

But just as Germany was relatively late to jump on the star chief executive bandwagon, it was also one of the first to spring off again. Ron Sommer of Deutsche Telekom was one of the first old-economy chief executives to make the crossover to star status. But he was also one of the first to fall on his sword.

No amount of media skills and sharp suits could hide the company's €67 billion debts and gloomy outlook. Dr Sommer, star chief executive, was jettisoned and replaced with a 72-year-old pensioner.

Over at Bertelsmann, chief executive Mr Thomas Middelhoff appeared to be doing a good job. In his four years at the top he transformed a 150-year-old hymn-sheet publisher into the fifth-largest media conglomerate in the world with a turnover of €19 billion.

But Mr Middelhoff merely supplied an outward sheen to an old-fashioned company that is still in private hands, controlled by a trust and the founding Mohn family.

"Middelhof was a disaster. For all his acquisition success, it remains to be seen how the company's acquisitions can be integrated," says Mr Daniel Bögler, financial editor of the Financial Times Deutschland, which is half-owned by Bertelsmann.

Despite taking the company on a spending spree, Bertelsmann is in good financial shape. But, unlike French media consortium Vivendi, the board was not waiting for disaster to strike before replacing its celebrity chief executive.

The departure of Mr Middelhoff is just another sign that German business is going back to "competent but dull" managers, says Mr Bögler.

"German companies tried to import the star chief executive and the US management model without changing the structures underneath," he says. "It was never going to work because it was so superficial. Now we see the body rejecting it."

His view is shared by Dr Regina Maria Jankowitsch, a media trainer and author of the book In the Stock Market Footlights.

"The star chief executives in Germany want all the money that chief executives earn in the US, but want to take on as little responsibility as possible," she says. A good chief executive proves his or her worth not in the good times, but when German star chief executives were faced with their first crisis last year, they "ran around like headless chickens", she says.

Like all media-created stars, Germany's celebrity chief executives have had their 15 minutes of fame.

Now, they are being told it is time to get off the stage.