Dusseldorf For Miguel Ángel López Borrego, a wish will come true this Thursday. Three German companies are known all over the world, Mercedes, Siemens and Thyssen-Krupp, he once said in a small group. The manager with Spanish roots has already spent large parts of his professional life at Siemens – this Thursday he will take over as CEO of Thyssen-Krupp.
There is hardly a major task in German industry at the moment: the Ruhr group has been losing substance for years. López’s predecessor, Martina Merz, had practically put the entire company up for sale, overburdening investors and employees alike. Your successor now has the task of reorganizing the conglomerate.
When López enters the company headquarters in Essen early in the morning on Thursday, he will have a catchy message ready for the 96,000 employees. He didn’t want to change the strategy – it was about implementation, he told the Handelsblatt. Three elements are decisive for this: the IPO of the hydrogen division Nucera, a solution for the steel business and a significant improvement in the group’s performance.
Before he took office, it was already becoming apparent that Nucera would soon be able to go public. The preparations for this are largely complete, according to financial circles. After years, the market environment now offers a more favorable environment for an IPO.
He also wants to find a solution for the steel division Thyssen-Krupp Steel in the near future, which has to invest billions in making its production at the Duisburg location climate-friendly. The offshoot cannot earn any money on its own, so a sale is difficult to implement at the moment. On the other hand, the losses in the steel division are largely responsible for the fact that the group recently slipped into the red.
Performance-oriented overall concept required
The area must therefore be reorganized and geared towards the production of climate-friendly green steel. To do this, the company needs help from the state. The federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia have promised help – but Thyssen-Krupp is waiting for the EU funding decision, with which the money can only flow.
The third point López wants to focus on: performance. “We absolutely have to get better in comparison to the competition, consistently across the entire company. This requires a performance-oriented overall concept,” says López.
The division’s losses are largely responsible for the fact that the group recently slipped into the red.
(Photo: dpa)
People familiar with the change in management reported that with a view to the spin-off of the steel business, López’s experience in buying and selling parts of the company was decisive for his appointment. In addition to the steel division being spun off, the Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS) shipyard unit is being spun off. This expertise is therefore indispensable.
After studying business administration, López began his professional career in controlling at the car electronics manufacturer VDO. He then spent large parts of his professional life at Siemens. After serving as Chief Financial Officer of various business units, he became Head of Siemens Spain and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Siemens Gamesa from 2018 to 2022. Most recently, he was interim head of the automotive supplier Norma Group.
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López’s appointment was met with astonishment within the industry and also within the ranks of Siemens. Given his resume, the task is tall, some executives said. From this Thursday he will have to convince critics, including at Thyssen-Krupp.
He has the backing of the Krupp Foundation as the largest shareholder and that of the chairman of the supervisory board, Siegfried Russwurm. Like López, Russwurm spent large parts of his life at Siemens. “They know and appreciate each other,” said one person close to them.
However, the new CEO faces a major task. One where several managers and one manager have failed before him. Because after Heinrich Hiesinger, who headed the group until 2018, Guido Kerkhoff, who left Thyssen-Krupp in 2019, and most recently Martina Merz, López is the fourth CEO in five years.
The new CEO looks forward to his term of office and the great task with optimism. “Thyssen-Krupp is a German industrial brand that has been well established for a long time – in Europe and worldwide.” He looks forward to accompanying the group in its transformation and providing significant support. Above all, you have to develop your own potential, says López.
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