For future DWS boss Stefan Hoops, his predecessor Asoka Wöhrmann is an “inspirational leader”. (Photo: Martin Leissl for Handelsblatt)
(Photo: Martin Leissl for Handelsblatt)
Frankfurt Congratulations after promotions are considered good manners on career networks like LinkedIn and are an indicator of a user’s level of awareness. The around 70 congratulations that have accumulated under a post from the fund company DWS for their future boss, Stefan Hoops, should go through as befitting their status. Only a greeting should have irritated the new DWS boss.
“Good luck as always! Greetings D.”, writes Yasser Daniel Wruck, Managing Director of Ice Field GmbH, under the DWS entry. Congratulations from businessman Daniel Wruck to the newly appointed DWS boss? Some in the financial scene find that at least strange. After all, Wruck may have at least indirectly contributed to the fact that Hoops’ predecessor Asoka Wöhrmann had to resign early after the general meeting this Thursday.
Because the greenwashing allegations, which even led to a raid last week, were probably only one of several reasons for the departure of DWS CEO Wöhrmann. Wöhrmann’s questionable contacts with the controversial businessman Daniel Wruck may also have played a role.
Wöhrmann, at the time Head of Private Customers Germany at Deutsche Bank, had arranged for von Wruck to initiate the purchase of a Porsche. At the same time, he also had business dealings with him. At that time, Wöhrmann negotiated a joint venture with the start-up Auto1 and Allianz for Deutsche Bank, from which Deutsche Bank has since exited.
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The bank examined the Porsche deal at the time, probably without finding anything. But because the deal was partly negotiated via Wöhrmann’s private e-mail address, an internal investigation of the bank is still ongoing, as can be heard in financial circles.
One can conclude from this that Wöhrmann not only stumbled upon the allegations made by his ex-head of sustainability, Desiree Fixler, but also through his contacts with Daniel Wruck. For this reason, Wruck’s congratulations for the new DWS boss at least raise the question of how well they both know each other.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment on Wruck’s congratulations. It is certain that there were business contacts between Hoops and Wruck: When Deutsche Bank announced the founding of the joint venture with Auto1 and Allianz in June 2018, Hoops was the manager who commented on the deal on the part of Deutsche Bank in a press release.
No “Like” from Hoops
However, Wöhrmann did not fall because of his business contacts with Wruck. On LinkedIn, the two are not directly connected. And private contacts or favors between Wruck and Hoops have not yet become known. Hoops also ignored Wruck’s friendly greeting, while reacting to almost all other well-wishers with a “like”.
In addition to Daniel Wruck, the former head of sustainability at DWS, Desiree Fixler, also reacted to the DWS post about Stefan Hoops. She criticized Hoops for praising his predecessor Woehrmann as an “inspirational leader” in his message to DWS employees.
“I want to caution that there is nothing ‘inspirational’ about burying a company in corporate, civil and criminal investigations into ESG and governance matters,” she wrote on LinkedIn. Fixler had reported the greenwashing allegations to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which also led to investigations by Bafin and the Federal Criminal Police Office. She had thus contributed significantly to the downfall of Wöhrmann.
Her message to the new DWS boss: “If Stefan Hoops breaks with the past and leads the company with strong governance and the fulfillment of the company’s climate and diversity promises, I wish him every success in the future.”
More: Departure from DWS boss Wöhrmann: what the affair means for Deutsche Bank.