Business

Thyssenkrupp to seek new chief executive after Hiesinger quits

Outgoing chief had been due to present new strategy for German manufacturing group

Heinrich Hiesinger, outgoing chief executive of ThyssenKrupp, at the conglomerate’s headquarters in Essen, Germany. Photograph: Ilvy Njiokiktjien/New York Times

Fri Jul 6 2018 - 15:03

German manufacturing company Thyssenkrupp will take its time to find a new boss after accepting chief executive Heinrich Hiesinger’s resignation, a move which clears the way for a radical restructuring of the German industrial group.

The board did not appoint an interim chief executive but said it had asked the remaining executives – Guido Kerkhoff, Oliver Burkhard and Donatus Kaufmann – to lead the company for now.

“In this difficult situation it is most important now for the company to remain on course,” the supervisory board’s chairman Ulrich Lehner said in a statement.

Hiesinger’s offer to resign, announced late on Thursday, came less than a week after he sealed a landmark joint venture deal with India’s Tata Steel, the culmination of two years of negotiations that in the end came too late to placate investors hungry for change.

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His departure creates a power vacuum as Thyssenkrupp prepares to present a revamped strategy for the group, which was forged by the merger of two German steel groups founded in the 19th century and currently spans submarines, elevators and car parts.

“I have not taken this decision lightly – quite the opposite,” Hiesinger wrote in a letter to staff. “I take this step very consciously to enable a fundamental discussion in the supervisory board on the future of Thyssenkrupp.”

Hiesinger had been due to present a new strategy for the group to the board next week, which analysts said would now likely be delayed until a new chief executive is found.

"The succession to Dr Heinrich Hiesinger as chief executive will follow in a structured process," Thyssenkrupp said, without providing details on possible candidates or a time line.

Activist shareholders Cevian and Elliott have both criticised Thyssenkrupp’s performance under Hiesinger, with shares down 28 per cent since he took office in January 2011.

On Friday, the stock jumped as much as 6.6 per cent to the top of the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index before giving up some of its gains to trade 0.8 per cent higher by lunchtime on Friday. – Reuters

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