Was it really true what it said? Herbert Diess (62), Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG since April 2018, has a new five-year contract. He will remain CEO until 2025 in order to pursue his strategy.
The paper that circulated through the corridors of the Wolfsburg headquarters on the afternoon of December 9, according to statements by those involved, is real. It says that the boss gets exactly what he was denied here for weeks: a new contract. It is precisely the vote of confidence from the entire Supervisory Board that he has repeatedly asked for.
The letter had only one flaw: It came from Herbert Diess himself. It was part of a template for a possible, yes, one can assume the decision hoped for by Diess in the unscheduled supervisory board meeting on that day.
The supervisory boards, who have to decide on this five-year contract at the end, were somewhat irritated by this proposal, according to the group’s top management. They assumed that they had agreed on a compromise with Diess: three new board members were to be appointed that evening, including two absolute Diess favorites.