Kerkhoff should leave

Author: Mario Schmidtgen
Date: 25.09.2019

After one year Thyssenkrupp changes the executive board

The Group calls for a renewed change at the top management level of Thyssenkrupp. The executive committee, in particular, emphasizes that Kerkhoff should negotiate about a departure in the near future. Martina Merz, chairman of the supervisory board, shall occupy the position of executive manager only for a certain period of no more than twelve months.

At first, the company did not want to give any reasons for the withdrawal. Now it became known that the supervisory board presidium had expressed a wish for new executives.

Originally the future ex-executive board had a contract with Thyssenkrupp until September 30 of 2023. This contract meant that Kerkhoff was intended to stabilize the group, which had previously struggled due to the less harmonious departure of the former executive board member Heinrich Hiesinger.

In addition, a recommendation was made by the presidium considering a chairman of the supervisory board. This includes placing Siegfried Russwurm at the top for the time being. The supervisory board plans to announce this as soon as possible.

The Dax no longer includes Thyssenkrupp

A few days ago, Thyssenkrupp had to hand over the place of the 30 most valuable stock exchange companies in Germany to the engine builder MTU. This is due to the drastic drop in the company’s share price.

The Essen-based industrial and steel group has been struggling with a financial crisis for some time now. Billions in bad investments in Brazilian steel mills and the USA have brought this consequence with them. A merger with the competitor Tata, which was not approved by the EU, was supposed to help the company to control its investments. Guido Kerkhoff also denied the split of Thyssenkrupp into two independent companies.

The sale of a high-turnover elevator division was planned so that Thyssenkrupp would receive some money again. This is intended to yield a higher value than the entire company. It should be mentioned that Thyssenkrupp employs around 160,000 people.