Wednesday July 15, 05:26 PM
Porsche denies report of CEO stepping down
FRANKFURT (AFP) - The German sports car maker Porsche (Xetra: POR3.DE - news) flatly denied on Wednesday a report that its controversial chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking was stepping down.
"That is absolute nonsense," a spokesman told AFP after the German weekly Wirtschaftswoche said Wiedeking would quit amid an epic boardroom battle for control of the biggest European carmaker, Volkswagen (Xetra: 766400 - news) .
Wiedeking would take part as company boss in an extraordinary Porsche supervisory board meeting on July 23, the spokesman added.
Wirtschaftswoche, which did not identify its sources, had also said that Wiedeking's successor would be named quickly.
After winning praise for making Porsche the most profitable car company in the world though complex financial transactions based on VW stock options, Wiedeking was sharply criticised when his takeover bid collapsed.
Wiedeking spearheaded Porsche's attempt to raise its 51 percent holding in VW to around 75 percent, but also raised strong opposition among the group's powerful labour unions.
In particular, he claimed there would be no "sacred cows" at VW once Porsche gained full control of the group and found himself at odds with the head of VW's supervisory board, Ferdinand Piech, who maintains good relations with the unions.
Piech, a grandson of Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche, is also a major Porsche shareholder.
Reportedly one of Germany's best-paid bosses, Wiedeking sharply criticised state bail-outs for troubled companies as well, before he was forced to ask for public funds in turn.
The company ran up nine billion euros (12.6 billion dollars) in debt trying to build up its VW holding.
Porsche's supervisory board meeting is now set to consider an offer from Qatar for a stake in the company in exchange for badly needed cash.
VW said Wednesday it would also hold an extraordinary supervisory board meeting the same day in the same southwestern German city, Porsche's home town of Stuttgart.
The two meetings may indicate that Porsche and VW might unveil a solution to the struggle in which their dominant forces, the Porsche and Piech families, have each tried to gain the upper hand.
VW has made a counter-offer for 49 percent of Porsche, but that bid was downgraded on the Porsche board's agenda under the heading of "information," the popular daily Bild said.
|
|
|
Send Article by Email
Send Article by IM
Blog This with Y! 360
Printable View
