Before the planned IPO next Thursday, Porsche AG is reorganizing its supervisory board and is thus positioning itself a little more independently of the Porsche and Piëch owner families. Hans Michel Piëch (80) and Hans Dieter Pötsch (71) will no longer be members of the Executive Committee of the Supervisory Board; This emerges from a message from the sports car manufacturer on Friday. Together with his cousin Wolfgang Porsche (79), Hans Michel Piëch leads the car clan of Porsches and Piëchs. Pötsch is CEO of the family holding company Porsche SE, which is also listed. He also chairs the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG and is a member confidants of the owning family for years
in. The Wolfsburg car company wants to place 25 percent of the Porsche shares on the stock exchange. All ordinary shares go to the holding company of the founding families.
The withdrawal of Hans Michel Piëch and Hans Dieter Pötsch from the Executive Committee also marks the beginning of a generational change. The Piëch side of the auto clan will no longer be represented in the leadership of the supervisory board, Hans-Peter Porsche (81) will even leave the board altogether. In addition to Wolfgang Porsche, the only family members there are his nephew Oliver Porsche (61) and cousin Hans Michel Piëch.
Hans Dieter Pötsch’s resignation from the Executive Committee should also be seen as a signal to investors. There had been repeated criticism on the capital market that the interests of Volkswagen, Porsche SE and Porsche AG were not clearly divided among key people – including Pötsch. Oliver Blume’s double role was also criticized. Since September 1st, Blume has headed the executive boards of both Volkswagen AG and the future independently listed subsidiary Porsche.
Parallel to the resignation of Pötsch and Piëch, the Presidium of the Supervisory Board will be reduced from eight to six people. In addition to the chairman, Wolfgang Porsche, the head of the supervisory body will in future include Volkswagen CFO Arno Antlitz (52) and the new Volkswagen board member for IT and organization, Hauke Stars (55). There are also trade unionist Jordana Vogiatzi and works council members Harald Buck and Carsten Schumacher.
moved to the board of directors in addition to stars, the two external managers Micaela le Divelec Lemmi and Melissa Di Donato Roos. In addition to Hans-Peter Porsche, Hiltrud Werner (56) and Volkswagen board member Thomas Schmall (58) left the board. The reason given by the sports car manufacturer was the establishment of necessary committees before the IPO. The background may also be an increase in the proportion of women and the proportion of independent members on the supervisory board.