January 1st: Less killing of chicks and plastic bags at the checkout in Germany light plastic carrier bags may no longer be offered. Exceptions are reusable bags and thin plastic bags for fruit and vegetables. In addition, the killing of chicks in laying hen husbandry will be banned in Germany in the future. Millions of male chicks have been killed after hatching because they don’t lay eggs and produce less meat.
January 7th: Ryanair says goodbye to Frankfurt, Europe’s largest low-cost airline Ryanair are its base at Frankfurt Airport. The five aircraft still stationed there will be reallocated to cheaper airports. The reason given by Ryanair is the increased take-off and landing fees at the largest German airport at the turn of the year.
January 10th: Insolvency of the MV shipyardsThe MV shipyards in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania file for bankruptcy. The reason for this is the financial difficulties of the parent company Genting Hong Kong, mainly as a result of the corona crisis. In November secures the purchase of one that is 75 percent complete cruise ship by Disney at least some of the jobs. In June, the federal government announced that the site should be converted into a naval arsenal.
January 18: Microsoft’s $70 billion dealThe software company Microsoft continues to take over the video games company Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion. The Xbox group would thus secure popular games such as “Call of Duty”. Try in December US competition watchdog to overturn the deal.
February 24: Russia invades Ukraine Long thought impossible, this day changes the balance of power in the world. Russia begins his invasion of the Ukraine. There is talk everywhere of turning the tide and it will bring violent changes. The economy is initially in a tailspin, especially the auto industry, as factories in Ukraine are no longer working and suppliers can no longer produce. As a result, grain and energy prices have risen to unprecedented heights. Read about the effects and the new rules of the war economy you here more
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February 25: Sanctions against Putin and the oligarchsIn response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the West decides to impose sanctions on Russia. They are initially aimed specifically at Vladimir Putin (70) personally and important people from his environment. Who was initially affected read here. The circle will be expanded later. One consequence is the change of owner of the British football club Chelsea: oligarch Roman Abramovich sold – and a US billionaire is awarded the contract. But not all oligarchs suffer from the sanctions, why is that read here.
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February: A turning point with Minister of Defense Christine Lambrecht (57) – here at a military exercise in Munster
Photo: Sean Gallup / Getty Images
February 27th: The U-turn with the Bundeswehr Chancellor’s special fund Olaf Scholz (64) announces the turning point – the Bundeswehr is to be upgraded with a special fund worth 100 billion euros. But is it that easy? How the German armaments industry is doing read here
. What the challenges may be read here
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February 27: Swift without RussiaGermany, the United States and other Western allies decide to ban Russian financial institutions from Swift banking communications network. These are the consequences from that point of view: The attack on Russia’s treasury
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March 11: Record diesel priceA liter of diesel costs 2.321 euros – the record in Germany since then. With E10 premium petrol, the maximum value of 2.203 euros is reached on March 14th. Only a few days earlier, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prices had exceeded the two euro per liter mark for the first time.
March 15: Intel chooses Magdeburg, the chip company intel sets up a European factory in Magdeburg. Chips are to be produced there from 2027. Intel intends to invest around 17 billion euros in a first stage of expansion for two neighboring semiconductor plants hopes for generous government support.
May 3rd: FMC honors KriwetThe crisis-ridden dialysis specialist Fresenius Medial Care announces that the previous boss Rice Powell (67) to will retire at the end of the year. Age-related, it says as a reason in the message. His successor has already been determined: Carla Kriwet (51) will take office earlier and throws away after just 66 days.
May 23: Klarna’s demiseOnce was the Swedish fintech Klarna the highest rated startup in Europe. But times have changed. At the end of May, the start-up announced the first major wave of layoffs. After that they broke Reviews for the next round of financing a, the loss after the first six months of 2022 was immense. About the fear of start-ups read here
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Asoka Wöhrmann fell over the greenwashing affair
Photo: Britta Pedersen / picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa-pool
June 1st: DWS boss has to go Just one day after a large-scale raid, Asoka Wöhrmann (57) resigns. 50 officers had previously searched the business premises of Deutsche Bank and its subsidiary DWS. The accusation: Investors could have been misled about the real sustainability content of DWS products. Read what’s behind it here: The green affair at DWS.
The greenwashing affair came in particular started by manager Desiree Fixler (51).
. Stefan Hoops (42) now runs DWS. who this man is read the portrait here
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June 1st: Launch of the 9-euro ticket With the 9-euro ticket you can use local buses and trains for three months at a bargain price. The unprecedented discount campaign is intended to compensate for the high energy prices. There is debate about the simultaneous fuel discount for petrol and diesel as prices remain high. What does the sustainable mobility of the future look like? We discussed that with the Spoke to futurologist Stefan Carsten.
July 12: Euro on descentFor the first time since 2002, the euro is worth a dollar again. The consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine and the reluctance of the European Central Bank (ECB) to combat inflation are considered to be the reasons for the falling euro exchange rate. At the end of the year, there is again a little more than a dollar for one euro.
21 July: The ECB raises the key interest rate for the first timeThe ECB raises the key interest rate for the first time in eleven years – and by 0.5 percentage points more than expected. With further increases – including the record value of 0.75 points – the interest rate reached 2 percent in the months thereafter. The ECB announced further increases in view of the high inflation. About the strategy of the central bankers read more here
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Photo: HANNIBAL HANSCHKE / REUTERS
July 22nd: Diess’ farewell announced as a complete surprise Herbert Diess (64) his farewell as VW CEO (read here: This balance sheet). His successor is already certain: Porsche-Boss Oliver Blume. The 54-year-old has held the reins since September 1st. Which leadership principles Blume relies on read here.
August 17: RTL Germany without SchäferThe Bertelsmann subsidiary RTL Germany separates from its boss Stephan Schäfer (48), instead the television station is managed personally by Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe (57). How he rebuilds RTL together with the incorporated publishing house Gruner + Jahr is being watched with excitement. Why shepherd had to go find out here
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August 19: Fresenius boss Sturm clears the place The rumors have been circulating for some time, in mid-August there then Stephan Sturm announced his resignation. Where Storm failed read here. His successor, Michael Sen, has been at work since October. how difficult the situation is read here
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August 22nd: Adidas– Boss Rorsted throws down Stahlhart Kasper Rorstedt (60) had trimmed Adidas for efficiency, but internally he sparked a culture war. In the end, the numbers don’t add up and Rorsted throws it down. Why the investors dumped the manager read here
. And how it is now under the new boss Bjørn Gulden (57) to continue, you can find out here
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Permeable: Several explosions tore holes in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines
Photo: – / dpa
September 26: Attack on Nord Stream 1 and 2 Massive explosions tear large holes in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines. They were not in operation at the time in the tense situation surrounding Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. With the explosions, however, they became unusable. The EU and NATO agree that it was sabotage.
September 29: Porsche goes publicIn the midst of market chaos, Porsche manages one of the world’s largest IPOs of all time – at least it’s the second largest IPO in Germany after Telekom in 1996. The share placement of the sports car manufacturer brings Volkswagen 9.4 billion euros. how Porsche Volkswagen rules
, and like one of the richest German family clan, namely the Porsche family, regained control of the home of the 911, read here
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Tina Mueller
Photo:
André Havergo/ imago/Future Image
the 20th of October: Douglas without MüllerThe financial investor CVC would like to make the perfume dealer Douglas ready for sale. For Tina Müller (54) this is no longer the right job and she announces her departure. You can find out the background here
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October 21: Bertelsmann is not allowed to buy in the USAThe takeover of the US book publisher Simon & Schuster by Bertelsmann, which is worth around 2.18 billion dollars is finally off the table. Bertelsmann does not want to challenge the court ruling that prohibited the purchase after a lawsuit by the US government on competition grounds.
October 24th: EU speaks its word of power when it comes to charging standardsThe uniform USB-C charging standard for smartphones and other devices in the EU from autumn 2024 is finally fixed. This has consequences for Apple and its customers, as it spells the end for today’s “Lightning” connector on iPhones. The step is intended to reduce electronic waste, they say.
October 1st: New boss at TuiBei Germany’s largest travel group, Sebatian Ebel (59) succeeds the long-time Tui driver Fritz Joussen (59) on this day. How the new boss wants to save the company read here
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October 26: Dispute over CoscoAfter a compromise in the federal cabinet the Chinese state-owned company Cosco can get a stake of less than 25 percent in a container terminal in the port of Hamburg. Cosco wanted to acquire 35 percent. In November, the government stopped two takeovers of German companies by Chinese investors, such as the sale of a chip production facility by Dortmund-based Elmos. Read here more about the secret China strategy of the federal government
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28th of October: Twitter belongs now Elon MuskTech billionaire Elon Musk (51) completes the approximately $ 44 billion purchase of Twitter after months of back and forth. Chaos follows
: Musk cuts workforce in half, advertisers stop ads, controversial accounts are making a comeback, a new blue-tick subscription creates fake accounts from brands and celebrities. Later, users choose Musk in a survey as boss. If and when Teslaboss follows the vote remains unclear. Why the Twitter and Tesla boss is not only endangering his companies, but has also become dangerous for the world community, read here.
October 31st: Second insolvency proceedings for department store chain Galeria Germany’s last large department store group Karstadt Kaufhof Gallery looking for rescued in protective shield proceedings for the second time in less than two years. More than 40 of the remaining 131 houses are to be closed. They cannot be operated profitably due to sluggish consumption, inflation and high energy costs. What is owner René Benko (45) planning to do? You can read here how the department store chain is really doing
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November 6th: Apple suffers from corona lockdowns in ChinaApple is threatened with a botched Christmas business: In the middle of the most important shopping season, there are production outages for the new iPhone 14 Pro due to corona lockdowns in China. The financial service Bloomberg reports that this year around six million fewer devices could be manufactured.
November 09: Meta dismisses employees on a grand scaleThe first major job cuts are dismissed Facebook-Group Meta more than 11,000 employees, about 13 percent of the workforce. meta boss Mark Zuckerberg (38) is caught in a quandary: the core business of online advertising is less profitable, at the same time, founder Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of virtual “metaverse” worlds is costing more and more billions.
November 11th: FTX goes bankrupt and causes a cryptoquakeThe crypto exchange FTX is insolvent. The company of entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried (30) applied for creditor protection and the boss resigns. The group, once valued by investors at 32 billion dollars, collapses within a few days. The crisis in the trading platform for digital currencies such as Bitcoin is having a wide impact on the crypto market. Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas in December and shipped to the US. You can read in our report how Jan Beckers (39), one of the crypto investors, is dealing with the crash of the crypto currencies: 80 percent loss with crypto – and now
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November 11: Inflation soaringThe Federal Statistical Office reports the strongest price increase in about 70 years. Inflation in Germany exceeded the 10 percent mark in October due to high energy and food prices.
November 19: Weidmann becomes Commerzbank– Chief Inspector The ex-Bundesbank boss Jens Weidman (54) is to take over the chief post at Commerzbank. The bank surprised with the Personnel of the Year on a Saturday evening. His predecessor Helmut Gottschalk will leave the post in spring 2023.
November 19: Eleven years in prison for Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (38) wanted to revolutionize blood tests and failed miserably. In the end she was considered a cheater sentenced to eleven years imprisonment.
December 6th: Another change of guard at FMCAfter only two months, Carla Kriwet (51) leaves Fresenius Medical Care left again. Why the situation at FMC is so difficult read here
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December 8th: Wirecard scandal in court For the first time, the executive floor of a former Dax company is in court: Two and a half years after the Wirecard bankruptcy, the criminal proceedings for what is believed to be the largest case of fraud in Germany since 1945 begins. Ex-boss Markus Braun (53) and two Co-defendants are accused, among other things, of falsifying balance sheets and cheating lenders out of 3.1 billion euros. How the process started read here
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December 13: Berger and the cum-ex verdictThe former top lawyer Hanno Berger (72) is sentenced to eight years in prison for tax evasion in the cum-ex scandal. Berger wants to appeal against the judgment of the Bonn Regional Court. They find out here more about the key figure in the cum-ex scandal
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