The outgoing BASF boss could lead the supervisory board of Mercedes-Benz.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
Vienna, Dusseldorf A change is imminent at the top of the Mercedes-Benz Supervisory Board. The incumbent chief controller Bernd Pischetsrieder will leave the board in the coming year, as the Handelsblatt learned from corporate circles. Accordingly, the 75-year-old also wants to propose a potential successor at a supervisory board meeting on Wednesday after the general meeting.
Martin Brudermüller, the outgoing CEO of the chemical company BASF, is the favorite for the election. Mercedes did not comment on the possible changes in the supervisory board.
Brudermüller has been on the Mercedes Supervisory Board since 2021, has international experience and is crisis-tested. As the head of a Dax group for many years, Brudermüller also has enough charisma to be taken seriously by the board team around Mercedes frontman Ola Källenius.
Supervisory Board Chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder was considered an emergency solution
On the other hand, the choice of Brudermüller would also be tricky. The manager has been criticized because, despite rising geopolitical tensions, BASF continues to invest heavily in China and at the same time saves in Germany. Investors also complain about the weak share price development under his leadership since 2018.
The former VW and BMW boss Pischetsrieder has headed the group’s supervisory body for more than two years. His election was considered an emergency solution after the planned appointment of longtime Mercedes boss Dieter Zetsche failed due to resistance from some shareholders. The chairman of the supervisory board at the time, Manfred Bischoff, had to rethink and then appointed Pischetsrieder as his successor.
The personnel of Brudermüller is also somewhat surprising. Externally and internally, Telekom boss Tim Höttges was traded again and again as a possible chairman of the supervisory board. Apparently the manager wasn’t available. Ex-Metro boss Olaf Koch was also considered a candidate, especially since he once worked for Mercedes himself.
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