Deutsche Bank chief executive Mr Josef Ackermann and five other defendants were
cleared of charges of illegally paying multi-million euro bonuses to Mannesmann executives, a German court ruled this morning.
Judge Brigitte Koppenhoefer announced the acquittal at the Duesseldorf regional court following a trial that lasted six months.
Mr Ackermann and the five other defendants, including former Mannesmann boss Mr Klaus Esser, had denied charges of breach of trust in approving €60 million ($74 million) in bonuses to executives when Mannesmann was taken over by Britain's Vodafone in 2000.
The case revolves on whether the German firm's board acted illegally in giving departing executives hefty bonuses.
The defendents, who include Mannesmann's departing CEO Mr Klaus Ecker, were charged with breaching their fiduciary duty to the company by agreeing to the bonuses.