The former Henkel boss has been Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom since 2008.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
Berlin, Düsseldorf According to Handelsblatt information, the Deutsche Telekom supervisory board wants to name a successor to the outgoing chairman Ulrich Lehner before the end of the year. In the week before Christmas, Lehner wanted to introduce the committee to the candidate for the post, as it was said in informed circles. The change is to take place at the end of the Annual General Meeting on April 7th next year. Telekom does not comment on this.
In the run-up to Christmas, one of the most important personal details in the German economy will be clarified. The Bonn-based Dax group is a leader in Europe and has a strong position in North America through its mobile communications subsidiary T-Mobile US.
Telekom has achieved this top transatlantic position under the leadership of Timotheus Höttges. The ambitious CEO sees his task as not yet fulfilled. He now wants to lower the debt in order to take over other competitors in a later step in Europe and then possibly in the USA.
The manager wants to redesign Telekom – which poses a particular challenge for the supervisory board. A group in transition requires closer control.
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The circle around Lehner keeps the name of the future chairman of the supervisory board secret. “It is clear, however, that there will be an external solution,” said the committee. According to Handelsblatt information, Stefan Oschmann, who headed the pharmaceutical company Merck until the spring, was among those in the extended circle.
Missing alternative
He was mentioned as an alternative to Harald Krüger. The former BMW boss was originally chosen as Lehner’s successor, but Krüger withdrew his acceptance for the office a year ago. The cancellation came as a surprise. However, some members of the supervisory board were amazed to see that Lehner had not made provisions for the case. There was no alternative. “The anger about it was great”, it said in the environment of the control committee.
Michael Kaschke, ex-boss of Carl Zeiss, and the former Software AG boss Karl-Heinz Streibich, who are also favored by Lehner in addition to Krüger, sit on the committee, but are now too old for the position at the top of the supervisory board.
Some representatives come across that Lehner has taken the case. Those involved said that the chairman of the supervisory board, who has been in office since 2008, is not responsible for arranging his successor himself.
Actually, the federal government should have taken care of these personnel. The German state is the largest single shareholder in the telecommunications group, but is holding back. This also seems to apply to the new government coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP.
The 75-year-old Lehner is one of the most experienced of the German supervisory boards. In addition to Telekom, the former Henkel boss headed the supervisory boards of Thyssen-Krupp and Novartis, and is on hand to provide advice to the Porsche and Henkel families.
Classic supervisory board
Lehner is rich in experience, but he interprets his role as overseer in a more classic way. As a result, he controls more than interfering in the operative business. He leaves that to the board of directors.
However, some supervisors would like the body to play a greater role. They lack a counterweight to the self-confident Telekom boss Höttges, who is charged with success. According to information from corporate circles, the manager even intervened in the selection process.
Höttges reportedly told some inspectors that he wanted someone who had technological expertise. As a former BMW boss, Krüger would have met this requirement. This does not apply to Oschmann, his strength lies in the pharmaceutical field.
The interference by Höttges bothers some supervisory boards. A chairman of the board should not be allowed to choose his supervisor, they say. “That is a matter for the shareholders and the supervisory board themselves.” Only with a critical distance to the board of directors can an effective control function. Whether this is guaranteed in the future will be clarified before Christmas.
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