Proposals for new appointments to the Daimler Supervisory Board and for its chair.

December 03, 2020 – The Supervisory Board of Daimler AG is facing significant personnel changes. At the end of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on March 31, 2021, the term of office of the longstanding Chairman, Manfred Bischoff, will expire and he will step down from the Supervisory Board. With him, Petraea Heynike and Jürgen Hambrecht will also step down from the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG. Important new appointment to the Supervisory Board are thus necessary.

The Supervisory Board will therefore propose to the 2021 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting the election of three new persons with great international management experience. The candidates are in the process of focusing the business areas of their companies on the requirements of a dynamically changing society characterized by digitization and sustainability.

  • Elizabeth Centoni, Senior Vice President Cisco Strategy and Emerging Technology, has held senior management positions at the California-based IT company for many years.
  • Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell plc, has headed the multinational company since 2014.
  • Martin Brudermüller has been Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, since 2018. He is also Chief Technology Officer of BASF.

The term of office of Manfred Bischoff as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG will expire at the end of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on March 31, 2021. He was a member of the Board of Management of the then DaimlerChrysler AG until 2003. In 2006, he was elected to the Supervisory Board of DaimlerChrysler AG and became its Chairman in 2007. Long-time Nestlé senior executive Petraea Heynike has been a member of the Supervisory Board since 2011, and Jürgen Hambrecht, former Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF and former Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BASF, since 2008.

In its meeting on December 3, 2020, the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG also agreed that in its meeting to be held after the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on March 31, 2021, it will propose to the newly constituted Supervisory Board that Bernd Pischetsrieder be elected as its Chairman.

Bernd Pischetsrieder was for many years a member of the Board of Management of BMW AG and then Chairman of its Board of Management from 1993 to 2000. After moving to Volkswagen AG, he was also Chairman of the Board of Management there from 2002 to 2006. From 2013 to 2019, he was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the reinsurance company Münchener Rückversicherungsgesellschaft AG. He has been a member of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG since 2014.

On the nomination of Bernd Pischetsrieder as his successor, Manfred Bischoff stated: “Bernd Pischetsrieder is one of the most internationally recognized automotive experts. His expertise and wealth of experience are of outstanding importance for Daimler AG. He has been closely involved in the decisions to digitize the Group and to electrify and thus refocus the product portfolio. I hold him in high esteem, both personally and professionally, and I look forward to him becoming my successor as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG.”.