Ex-Telekom boss Obermann to become Chairman of the SAP Supervisory Board in 2027
SAP made an important personnel decision: René Obermann will join the Supervisory Board next year and take over as Chairman the year after.
René Obermann 2017
(Image: Stefan Krempl)
SAP has found a permanent successor to company founder Hasso Plattner as Chairman of the Supervisory Board: His name is René Obermann, and he is to take over the chairmanship from interim man Pekka Ala-Pietilä in 2027. SAP's Nomination Committee will submit this proposal to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting next year.
Obermann will then be elected to the Supervisory Board, but will not immediately take over as Chairman. Instead, there will be a transition phase with the aim of a “secure handover” of the business. To this end, Ala-Pietilä's mandate is to be extended by one year until 2027. Ex-Nokia CEO Ala-Pietilä and ex-Telekom CEO Obermann will therefore sit together on SAP's Supervisory Board for one year before Obermann is appointed Chairman. The Finn announced this in a letter to shareholders on Monday.
Illustrious career
The Düsseldorf-born German brings technical “expertise, extensive knowledge of our customers and the market, as well as experience in the German corporate governance system”, writes Ala-Pietilä. “René Obermann qualifies for the mandate due to his outstanding international career. He has experience as a company founder, as former CEO of Deutsche Telekom, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Airbus SE, as Chairman Europe at Warburg Pincus, and as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of IONOS SE.” The background to the timetable is that Obermann's mandate at Airbus is scheduled to expire in 2027.
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The fly in the ointment may be that Obermann is not SAP's first choice. When majority shareholder Hasso Plattner announced in 2023 that he would be stepping down as Chairman of the SAP Supervisory Board in May 2024 after more than 20 years, he presented the American Punit Renjen as his successor and elected him to the Supervisory Board. However, Renjen is said to have made himself unpopular by being too active. In February 2024, SAP unexpectedly parted ways with Renjen; according to a report in Handelsblatt, he is said to have tried too hard to influence the German company's operational decisions. Ala-Pietilä stepped into the breach at the time.
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