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Jürgen E. Schrempp
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Prof. Dr. h.c. Jürgen E. Schrempp

Career

Juergen Schrempp served as Chairman of the Board of Management and CEO of DaimlerChrysler AG until 2005.

Under his leadership, the once highly diversified Daimler-Benz Group refocused on its core business of developing, manufacturing and marketing automobiles and strengthening its global market position. It implemented a bold global strategy that led to the creation of one of the largest automotive companies in the world, increasing Daimler's market capitalization from €18 billion in 1995 to more than €43 billion in 2005.

Schrempp spent much of his 45-year career at Daimler steering the Group's businesses in Europe, the US and South Africa through complex challenges. He successfully streamlined, restructured and sold non-core businesses to improve performance. Out of Daimler's aerospace businesses, he created, together with French industrialist Jean-Luc Lagardère, the European aerospace company and parent of Airbus, EADS.

Born in Freiburg, Germany on September 15, 1944, Schrempp began his career as an apprentice mechanic for Daimler-Benz in 1961. After earning a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Applied Science in Offenburg, Germany, he joined the Daimler-Benz headquarters in Stuttgart in 1967.

In 1974, Schrempp relocated with Daimler-Benz to South Africa, where he actively served in the management of the Group's subsidiary for over a decade. From 1974 to 1984 he worked with the United Car and Diesel Distributors (UCDD) factory, the only manufacturer of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars outside of Germany. From 1984 to 1987 he served as Chairman/CEO of Mercedes-Benz South Africa.

It was during this time in South Africa that he developed a deep affection for the country and a commitment to improving the region's social and economic conditions.

From 1982 to 1984, Schrempp left South Africa for a period to lead Euclid Trucks, a US subsidiary of Daimler-Benz, in Cleveland, Ohio. As President, he successfully reorganized and sold the producer of off-highway trucks before returning to South Africa.

In 1987, Schrempp became Deputy Board Member of Daimler-Benz AG, responsible for Commercial Vehicles until 1989. From 1989 to 1995, he focused on the turnaround of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG as the Chairman of DASA before taking the helm of Daimler-Benz AG as Chairman in 1995. Following the merger with Chrysler Corporation in 1998, he served as Co-Chairman of DaimlerChrysler AG, together with Robert J. Eaton, until 2000 when he became sole Chairman.

After ten years at the head of the automotive company, Schrempp retired as Chairman in 2005.

With his deep experience in Africa, Schrempp is applying his management expertise on the boards of several South African companies. He is Non-Executive Director of South African Airways (Pty) Ltd., Non-Executive Chairman of Mercedes-Benz South Africa and Independent Lead Director of the South African Coal, Oil and Gas Corporation Ltd. (SASOL), among other positions.

Schrempp has been recognized for his social work in Africa, including his efforts to bring attention to and alleviate the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In 1999 former South African President Nelson Mandela, who Schrempp is honored to call a friend, awarded him the country's highest civilian honor, the Order of Good Hope, for his outstanding support of South Africa. Schrempp is Chairman Emeritus of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS.

Schrempp holds many other awards and honors, including the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship from the renowned Woodrow Wilson Center, the Armonk Institute Award for the Promotion of German and American Jewish Relations and the Global Leadership Award from the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies.

Schrempp currently resides in Munich, Germany with his wife Lydia, with whom he has a daughter, Loana, and a son, Luca. He has two sons from his previous marriage, Alexander and Marc.

 

Awards/Directorships

Executive Leadership

  • "European Manager of the Year", Spanish Futuro
  • "Manager of the Year", Business Week
  • "Industry Leader of the Year", Automotive News
  • "Manager of the Year", Manager Magazine
  • "Man of the Year", Automobile Magazine

Awards

Civic Leadership

  • Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • Bavarian Order of Merit
  • Medal of Merit of the Federal State of Baden-Wuerttemberg
  • Commander, the National Order of Merit of the French Republic
  • Commander, the French Legion of Honor
  • Vatican's Cross of the St. Gregorius Order
  • Austrian Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold with Star for Services
  • Brazilian Southern Cross
  • Vernon A. Walters Award
  • Armonk Institute Award for the Promotion of German and American Jewish Relations
  • Global Leadership Award from the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies
  • Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship from the Woodrow Wilson Center
  • Senator and member, the board of trustees of the University of Applied Science in Offenburg
  • A Professorship of the Federal State of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany
  • Honorary Doctorate of the University of Graz, Austria
  • Honorary Doctorate of Commerce (h.c.) of the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
  • European Chairman of the Transatlantic Business Dialogue, 1998
  • Honorary Consul General of the Republic of South Africa for Baden-Wuerttemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland
  • Member of the International Investment Council of the President of South Africa
  • Chairman of the Southern Africa Initiative of German Business ("SAFRI")
  • Chairman Emeritus of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS
  • Chairman of the International Council of the United Global Academy

Current and Past Directorships, Committees, Advisory Roles, Amongst Others

  • Director, Allianz AG, Germany
  • Director, NYSE, USA
  • Director, Vodafone Group plc, UK
  • Non-Executive Chairman of Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA)
  • Independent Lead Director of the South African Coal, Oil and Gas Corporation Ltd. (SASOL)
  • Non-Executive Director of South African Airways (Pty) Ltd.
  • Non-Executive Director of Jonah Capital (Pty) Ltd.
  • Non-Executive Director of Compagnie Financiere Richemont S.A., Switzerland
  • Partner of Compagnie Financiere Rupert
  • Deputy Chairman of the Technology Company Iron Mineral Beneficiation Services (Pyt) Ltd. (IMBS), South Africa
  • Advisory Council Member of GEMS, Private Equity Firm


08/2009