Change in leadership: BASF Decides on Succession

Effective at the end of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on May 4, 2018, Dr. Martin Brudermüller (56), currently Vice Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, will become Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE. The Supervisory Board appointed Brudermüller in its meeting earlier. Brudermüller will succeed Dr. Kurt Bock (59), who is BASF’s Chairman since 2011 and has been a member of the Board of Executive Directors since 2003. This change will allow Bock to be elected as a member and chair of BASF’s Supervisory Board in 2020 after the end of the statutory two-years cooling-off period.
Dr. Hans-Ulrich Engel (58) was appointed as new Vice Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors. Furthermore, the Supervisory Board extended the appointments of Brudermüller, Engel and Sanjeev Gandhi (51) to the Board of Executive Directors by five years until the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting 2023. In the course of the changes, the number of Board members will be reduced from eight to seven.
“The change next year is part of the long-term succession planning for the Supervisory Board and the Board of Executive Directors of BASF,” said Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht (71), Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BASF SE. “With Martin Brudermüller we have again named a very competent and experienced successor from within the company.”
Brudermüller was appointed as Vice Chairman in 2011. In addition, he is Chief Technology Officer of BASF SE. Brudermüller has been a member of the Board of Executive Directors since 2006. During this time, he was among others responsible for the Asia Pacific region headquartered in Hong Kong.
Engel became a member of the Board of Executive Directors in 2008 and was among others responsible for the region North America headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey. Since 2011 he is Chief Financial Officer of BASF SE.