The Ruhr group is struggling for its future

Dusseldorf, Berlin Martina Merz made a remarkable promise to her executives. She was the woman who made the impossible possible for the Thyssen-Krupp industrial group, which was badly hit at the time, as the CEO explained several times.

She has now taken the first important step. After partial sales, the Ruhr group has now been freed from its oppressive burden of debt. However, a number of top managers complain that there is no strategy. “Thyssen-Krupp does not know where it is headed,” says one who does not want to be named.

Merz has had an unusual career since her appointment as chief controller of the Ruhr group three and a half years ago: After less than a year in office, she threw out the then CEO Guido Kerkhoff on behalf of the major shareholders Krupp Foundation and Cevian – and jumped, as no successor was available, without further ado.