In this context, the Supervisory Board unanimously appointed Guido Kerkhoff (50) as CEO. Kerkhoff obtains a new five-year contract and will thus permanently take over the management of the group. The contract of CHRO Oliver Burkhard (46) has also been renewed and now also runs until 30 September 2023. The contract of Dr. Donatus Kaufmann (56) had already been extended last year until 31 January 2022. It is planned to add a CFO to the Executive Board in the future.
Guido Kerkhoff, CEO of Thyssenkrupp: “I would like to thank the Supervisory Board for the confidence and the clear support it has given to the planned new set-up of Thyssenkrupp proposed by the Executive Board. We can now finally give our employees a clear orientation for the future of the company. Our solution is responsible and equally serves the interests of employees, customers and shareholders. We will now decisively start implementation.”
Kerkhoff added: “Oliver Burkhard has reached a general agreement with the employee representatives of the Supervisory Board. This provides certainty for our employees. The two future companies will not only be named Thyssenkrupp, but will also live the values and culture of Thyssenkrupp.”
The Supervisory Board of Thyssenkrupp AG also unanimously elected Prof. Dr. Bernhard Pellens (62) as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Pellens will succeed Prof. Dr. Ulrich Lehner (72), who resigned from the Supervisory Board at his own request on 31 July 2018. Since then, Markus Grolms (47), Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Thyssenkrupp AG, had managed the Supervisory Board’s affairs.
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Pellens: “With the new set-up, Thyssenkrupp is taking a courageous step forward. Thyssenkrupp now has a convincing plan to bring businesses closer to their customers and increase their performance. That will benefit shareholders, customers and employees. The concept has been developed by the Executive Board. For this reason it is only natural that this Executive Board will also implement the plan and I am delighted that Guido Kerkhoff, together with his colleagues on the board, has taken on this responsibility. The Supervisory Board will constructively support the Executive Board in putting this new set-up in place. On behalf of the Supervisory Board I would like to express my thanks to Markus Grolms for his prudent and determined management of the Supervisory Board’s affairs over the past months.”
Bernhard Pellens has been a member of the Supervisory Board since 2005. He is a Professor of Business Administration and International Accounting at the Ruhr University Bochum and Honorary Professor at Tongji University Shanghai. Pellens is Vice President of the Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft Business Economics Society.
The Nomination Committee is continuing its structured process to search for the two remaining Supervisory Board mandates.
_{(Source: thyssenkrupp AG)}