The business graduate has been working for Porsche for almost 20 years and has been CFO for ten years.
(Photo: Marc-Steffen Unger for Handelsblatt)
Stuttgart Lutz Meschke gets a contract extension as CFO and deputy CEO of Porsche AG. The long term of five years is rather unusual these days. It is therefore considered a special mark of trust from the Porsche and Piëch families.
“Lutz Meschke is resolutely driving forward digitization and M&A activities, while at the same time making Porsche future-oriented in the financial sector,” says Supervisory Board Chairman Wolfgang Porsche. “In doing so, he makes a key contribution to making Porsche one of the most profitable automobile manufacturers in the world.”
The fact that the 55-year-old business graduate enjoys the family’s special trust has been clear since the summer of 2020 at the latest, when he was appointed to the board of directors of the superordinate family holding company Porsche SE. The holding company holds the majority of the shares in the Volkswagen Group for the family, whose brands include the sports car manufacturer Porsche AG.
But there is probably more behind the contract extension by five years. Porsche boss Oliver Blume is considered a possible successor to the repeatedly criticized VW CEO Herbert Diess. Should Blume one day be appointed to the top of the group, Meschke could take over the part at Porsche on the fly.
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Certainly the CFO is less in the public eye than Porsche CEO Oliver Blume. In fact, Blume leaves him room to set his own accents. And Meschke uses it. The married father of six children from two marriages has been with the company for almost 20 years and has been CFO for ten years. Meschke has become something of a constant in the house.
With responsibility for IT, investments and venture capital, he is in the key position in the group when it comes to future issues beyond pure sports car construction. Born in Hilden, he is passionate about such topics. Most recently, he was involved in the start-up 1Komma5, which offers photovoltaic systems, electricity storage, charging infrastructure for electric cars and heat pumps from a single source, from the product to the installation and the green electricity contract.
Meschke is more than a sober controller
In terms of type, Meschke is much more than a matter-of-fact numbers person and controller. “Numbers are a craft and a basic requirement,” says Meschke. “Today, as a financier, it’s more about actively promoting innovations and new business models.” He likes to take controlled risks, such as when investing in the Croatian electronics pioneer Rimac.
And Meschke also pushes ahead by repeatedly mentioning the advantages of a possible Porsche IPO. Four years ago, he gave the initial food for thought that following the example of Ferrari, a partial IPO of Porsche could make sense in order to make the group even more financially weatherproof for the transformation.
That’s actually a matter for the owners. It is not known that Meschke got into trouble with Wolfgang Porsche because of this. Analysts still think an IPO, which was hotly debated again at the end of 2021, makes sense. But no decision has been made yet.
But Meschke’s compulsory program is also to pay close attention to Porsche’s profitability. With a return of more than 15 percent, the luxury manufacturer is one of the most profitable car manufacturers in the world. Porsche passed this mark in the first three quarters of 2021 despite the corona pandemic and a lack of semiconductors, as the company has now announced.
No savings program at Porsche, but a results program
The fact that this was successful is also due to Meschke’s 2025 austerity program. But he doesn’t like the expression: “For us, this is not an austerity program, but an earnings program,” says Meschke. This ambitious project aims to support the operating result by a cumulative amount of ten billion euros up to the year 2025 – and then by three billion euros per year. “Despite our high profitability, we are not on an island of the happy,” warns the former auditor of KPMG. During his tenure, the company’s value has increased more than tenfold from almost eight billion euros in 2009 to the present day.
As a passionate soccer player with a favorite position as a playmaker, Meschke likes to pull the strings. He considers attack to be the best form of defense, even when it comes to strategic decisions – such as with the electric car in 2014. “I was one of those who pushed the issue early on,” he says confidently. And that in a company where petrol in the blood was previously a prerequisite for recruitment.
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