The ESG expert and the CEO of Salvatore Ferragamo are moving into the supervisory board of Mercedes-Benz.
(Photo: dpa, getty)
Munich Mercedes-Benz should look greener and more luxurious in the future. In order to accompany this course of the board of directors around CEO Ola Källenius with the necessary expertise in the supervisory board, the Stuttgart car manufacturer is reorganizing its control body. The shareholders of the Dax group are to elect both Dame Polly Courtice and Marco Gobbetti to the supervisory board at the general meeting on April 29.
69-year-old Dame Polly Courtice was Director of the Institute for Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge in the UK from 2000 to 2021. Born in South Africa, she will help Mercedes to receive top ratings from rating agencies in the future in the categories of environment (environment), social (social) and corporate governance (governance).
The brand with the star has come to the conclusion that the company has no long-term prospects without a stringent ESG strategy. The group is therefore increasingly issuing green bonds and is rapidly converting all model series to electric drives.
At the same time, the model range is focused on particularly classy and lucrative sedans and SUVs. Mercedes CEO Källenius has internally chosen luxury goods groups such as LVMH as a role model. Mercedes-Benz aims to offer the most desirable products on four wheels. In Marco Gobbetti, the Swabians were able to gain an experienced sparring partner with this orientation.
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The 63-year-old Italian has been managing Salvatore Ferragamo SpA, a luxury shoe and bag manufacturer based in Florence, since the beginning of the year. Previously, Gobbetti was CEO of the luxury goods brands Burberry, Givenchy, Valextra and Moschino.
Internationalization and relative rejuvenation of the supervisory board
Courtice and Gobbetti will inherit two prominent members of the Mercedes board of directors. On the one hand Bader M. Al Saad, the representative of the major shareholder Kuwait, and on the other Clemens Börsig, who once sat on the board of directors of Deutsche Bank and RWE.
“The strategic realignment of Mercedes-Benz is based on the conviction that sustainability is the basis for a successful luxury strategy,” explained Mercedes Supervisory Board Chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder. “I am therefore very pleased that we were able to recruit two excellent candidates who will enrich the Supervisory Board with their experience and perspective.”
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According to Pischetsrieder, Courtice is one of the “most renowned ESG experts worldwide”, Gobbetti has “entrepreneurial experience in the luxury goods industry that is second to none”.
For years, many investors considered the Mercedes supervisory board to be too old, too male and not enough international experts. In the past two years, however, the 20 members of the committee have become increasingly diverse. Multiple supervisory boards such as banker Paul Achleitner left, but Cisco top manager Liz Centoni or Dutch Shell boss Ben van Beurden moved in.
With the appointment of Courtice and Gobbetti, the internationalization and relative rejuvenation of the Mercedes Supervisory Board should now be largely complete.
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