| Capital: | € 100 million |
|---|---|
| Age: | 72 |
| Born: | May 24, 1947 |
| Country of origin: | Germany |
| Source of wealth: | Entrepreneurs |
| Last updated: | 2022 |
Short introduction
Former CEO of Volkswagen AG is a public person in the Federal Republic. First in Bosch and then in Audi, he moved to VW in 1993, where he was in the council from 2000 and became chairman of the council in 2006. Because of involvement in the VW exhaust scandal, after years of success He was very badly criticized that he resigned in 2015. At present there are several lawsuits against him in Germany and the United States for fraud and other violations, the results of which are currently open.Youth
Little is known about his childhood and young. From 1966 Martin Winterkorn, who was born in Leonberg, learned metallurgical physics and metal in Stuttgart. From 1973, Winterkorn worked as a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, which ended with a doctorate. Since then he started working in a free industry.Career
First he worked as a researcher at Robert Bosch GMBH, an automotive supplier. He did this so successfully that he had joined the Audi car manufacturer in 1981 as an assistant council for quality assurance. This was followed by a further career leap, such as the appointment as a division manager and, from 1990, the head of all audi quality assurance. Here also, he developed an excellent reputation for his work and appearance, even if criticism of his authoritarian transactions with employees was sometimes expressed at that time. He might save this trait until the end of his professional career, not without very successful with it. So he finally turned to Volkswagen in 1993. Here too, he was initially active in managing quality assurance. Only one year later, he became the General Representative of VW AG, and from 2000 he rose to the council. Here he was originally a member of the council for “research and development”. In 2006 Martin Winterkorn reached the peak of his career. After the departure of Bernd Pischetsrieder, he became his successor as the head of the whole group and thus CEO. His salary was more than 17 million euros in 2011, a record for the CEO of the company Dax. He also received a retirement right of EUR 1.33 million per year. The great success of VW celebrating under his direction at first seems to justify this number, even if there are some criticism of this number in German society. During this time he was also a professor of honor in several universities, such as the Budapest technical university and TU Dresden. However, his reputation has been completely destroyed since the emissions scandal, where Martin Winterkorn bears nominal responsibilities, known. US authorities have found interference with VW diesel emissions. Martin Winterkorn resigned as VW CEO in 2015, as well as at Porsche Holding and from the Supervisory Board in Audi. In 2022, several lawsuits had been opened for fraud and similar crimes against him. In addition to a very severe fine, he can also face prison sentences.Career spotlight
All time as a member of the VW Council can be considered a big success – until the emission scandal is detrimental to his good reputation, his work and maybe even his freedom. Until then, he always set volkswagen to new notes. The highest sales figure, tens of thousands of new jobs and record sales and profits. After the scandal, this achievement faded more than just a little, but they were part of Martin Winterkorn’s life and work which was mostly successful.
His old career was successful as a manager reflected in various awards. Perhaps the most important thing about this is the manager of this year in 2012. In a nominal more importantly maybe the two honorary doctors he received from the Chemnitz Technology University and the Munich Technical University. He is also a professor of honor at Tongji University in Shanghai.
Famous quote
“Members of the council produce a lot and have many responsibilities. Fast errors have very serious consequences. Thus, consistent action must also be taken when the results are inadequate. “
“I hope my peak manager feels safe about cars: euphoria for things that are truly good, intolerance to weaknesses.”
“Employees who still know me from my time as a quality person in Audi or VW know that I am not interested in the hierarchy, but only in difficult facts. Especially when it comes to a warm topic when problems appear somewhere. “
“Volkswagen must be at the top of everything, including when coming to the management of the company responsible. I am careful with the word ‘role model’ – but our industry and therefore Volkswagen can be called a pioneer: no one can fool us when it comes to working conditions and the use of responsible resources from our planet. “
Amazing facts
While in VW, he had a pool built for Kois on his land. Introduction to the heating system for this pool alone is 60,000 euros, which of course VW takes over.
Martin Winterkorn is the father of two sons with two different women.
Shortly before the emission scandal was discovered, he and his wife founded a company which was the Director of Implementing was his wife. Martin Winterkorn moved most of his assets there.