BMW Group profile.
Board of Management.
Oliver Zipse
Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG
February 1964: Born in Heidelberg, Germany
Nationality: German
- 1983 – 1985: University of Utah, Salt Lake City/USA: Studies in Computer Science and Mathematics
- 1985 – 1991: Technical University Darmstadt: Graduation in Mechanical Engineering (Dipl.-Ing.)
- 1997 – 1999: WHU Koblenz and Kellogg School of Management, Evanston/USA: Executive MBA
- 1991: Joined BMW AG as Trainee in Development and Production
- 1992 – 1994: Project Engineer for Technology Innovation
- 1994 – 2006: Various Leading Functions in Development, Production and Production Planning in Munich and South Africa
- 2007 – 2008: Managing Director Plant Oxford, UK
- 2009 – 2012: Senior Vice President Technical Planning
- 2012 – 2015: Senior Vice President Corporate Planning and Product Strategy
- 2015 – 15 August 2019: Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Production
- since 16 August 2019: Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG
Ilka Horstmeier
Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Human Resources, Labour Relations Director
1969: Born in Duisburg, Germany
Nationality: German
- 1988 – 1994: Studied at Saarland University in Saarbrücken; degree in Business Administration
- 1995: Joined BMW Group as a trainee
- 1995 – 1997: Section manager, Human Resources and Organisational Development, Plant Munich
- 1997 – 1998: Head of Project Office Work Structures and Steering Bodyshop, Plant Munich
- 2001 – 2004: Head of Strategy Development, Production Concepts, BMW Group Research and Innovation Centre
- 2005 – 2009: Various management positions in production and logistics at Plants Dingolfing and Regensburg
- 2010 – 2011: Head of Engine Production Munich
- 2012 – 2013: Head of company-wide initiative “Future employment structures”
- 2013 – 2018: Senior Vice President Production and Planning Engines and E-Powertrain
- 2018 – 31 October 2019: Managing Director BMW Group Plant Dingolfing
- since 01 November 2019: Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Human Resources, Labour Relations Director
Dr. Milan Nedeljković
Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG , Production
March 1969: Born in Krusevac, Serbia
Nationality: Serbian
- 1988 – 1993: Studied Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, USA)
- 2000 – 2004: Doctor of Engineering (Dr.-Ing.) at Chair of Metal Forming and Casting, Technical University of Munich
- 1993: Joined BMW Group as a trainee in Munich
- 1994 – 1999: Planning functions for bodyshop and press plant technologies
- 1999 – 2006: Various management positions at Plants Munich and Regensburg
- 2006 – 2010: Head of Paint Shop, MINI Plant Oxford
- 2010 – 2013: Head of Assembly, BMW Group Plant Leipzig
- 2013 – 2015: Managing Director BMW Group Plant Leipzig
- 2015 – 2018: Managing Director BMW Group Plant Munich
- 2018 – 30 September 2019: Senior Vice President Corporate Quality
- since 01 October 2019: Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Production
Pieter Nota
Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Customer, Brands, Sales
July 1964: Born in Wageningen, Netherlands
Nationality: Dutch
- 1989: Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands
- 1990 – 2005: Unilever
- 1990 – 1996: Brand- and Product Management, Unilever Netherlands
- 1996 – 1998: Marketing Manager Innovations, Unilever Europe, UK
- 1998 – 2002: Marketing Director and Member of the Executive Board, Unilever Poland
- 2002 – 2005: Marketing Director and Member of the Executive Board, Unilever Foods, Germany
- 2005 – 2010: Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, Beiersdorf AG, Germany
- 2010 – 2017: Royal Philips
- 2010 – 2011: Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Consumer Lifestyle, Netherlands
- 2011 – 2016: Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Personal Health, Netherlands
- 2016 – 2017: Executive Vice President, Personal Health and Chief Marketing Officer, Netherlands
- 01 January 2018 – 31 March 2019: Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Sales and Brand BMW, Aftersales BMW Group
- since 01 April 2019: Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Customer, Brands, Sales
Dr. Nicolas Peter
Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Finance
April 1962: Born in Mannheim, Germany
Nationality: German, French
- 1984 – 1988: Studied law at the Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Degree: 1st state examination
- 1988 – 1991: Degree: 2nd state examination
- 1989: PhD in the field of law (Dr. jur.) at the Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität Munich
- 1991: joined BMW AG
- 1991 – 1993: Various executive and project management functions in the finance area
- 1993 – 1996: Treasurer, BMW Coordination Center, Belgium
- 1996 – 1999: Group Leader, Corporate Finance
- 1999 – 2002: Managing Director Finance and Administration, BMW France
- 2002 – 2004: Head of BMW Sweden
- 2005 – 2007: Head of Sales Steering, Process Development and IT
- 2007 – 2011: Head of Group Controlling
- 2011 – 31 December 2016: Head of Region Europe
- since 01 January 2017: Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Finance
Frank Weber
Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development
July 1966: born in Wiesbaden, Germany
Nationality: German
- 1985 – 1990: Studied Mechanical Engineering at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Master Degree in Mechanical Engineering (Diplom-Ingenieur)
- 1990: Assistant to the Prof. Automotive Technology, TU Darmstadt
- 1991 – 1995: Adam Opel AG, Project Engineer Total Vehicle
- 1995 – 2007: Adam Opel AG / GM Europe
- 1995 – 2001: Various management positions in Development and Product Lines
- 2001 – 2004: Director Program Management
- 2004 – 2007: Director Advanced Concept Engineering
- 2007 – 2010: General Motors (Michigan, USA), Vehicle Line Executive Chevrolet Volt and Opel Ampera / Voltec Propulsion Architecture
- 2010 – 2011: Adam Opel AG, Vice President Business & Product Planning
- 2011: Joined BMW AG
- 2011 – 2014: Head of Development Total Vehicle
- 2015 – 2018: Head of Product Line Grand Series
- 2018 – 30 June 2020: Head of Product Line Rolls-Royce and Luxury Class BMW
- since 01 July 2020: Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development
Dr.-Ing. Andreas Wendt
Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Purchasing and Supplier Network
July 1958: Born in Munich, Germany
Nationality: German
- 1980 – 1983: Studied Photography at the Bavarian State Academy of Photography, Munich
- 1984 – 1988: Studied General Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Munich
- 1992: Doctorate (with honours); thesis in “Quality assurance in flexibly automated assembly systems”
- 1992 – 2002: Various positions at Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart; lastly, head of brake plant in Barcelona, Spain
- 2002: Joined BMW AG as head of Strategy Development BMW Group Production
- 2003 – 2006: Head of Production “Suspension and Drive Train Components”
- 2006 – 2009: Managing Director of BMW Motoren GmbH, Steyr, Austria
- 2009 – 2017: Head of BMW Group Plant Regensburg
- 2017 – 30 September 2018: Head of BMW Group Plant Dingolfing
- since 01 October 2018: Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Purchasing and Supplier Network
Supervisory Board.
Dr.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Norbert Reithofer
Chairman and member of the Supervisory Board since 2015, appointed until 2025
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BMW AG, Former Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG
*Born in 1956
Nationality: German
- Studies of Mechanical Engineering at Fachhochschule München, Graduation as Diplom-Ingenieur (FH); Studies of Production Technology and Operating Science at Technische Universität München, Graduation as Diplom-Ingenieur; Ph.D. (Dr.-Ing.) at Technische Universität München
- 1987 joined BMW AG – Head of Maintenance Planning
- 1989 – 1991 Director of Control Technologies and Process Data Management
- 1991 – 1994 Director of the Body-in-White Production Division
- 1994 – 1997 Technical Director BMW South Africa
- 1997 – 2000 President BMW Manufacturing Corporation, USA (South Carolina)
- 2000 – 2006 Member of the Board of Management: Production
- September 2006 – May 2015 Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG
- since May 2015 Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BMW AG
Manfred Schoch¹
Deputy Chairman and member of the Supervisory Board since 1988, appointed until 2024
Chairman of the European and General Works Council
*Born in 1955
Nationality: German
- Industrial engineering degree (Diplom-Wirtschaftsingenieur) from Karlsruhe Technical University (TH)
- 1980 joined BMW AG
- since 1987 Chairman of the Works Council, Munich
- since 1987 Chairman of the General Works Council of BMW AG
- since 1996 Chairman of the European Works Council
- since 1994 Alternate President of the Board of Directors of the BMW health insurance fund (BKK)
Stefan Quandt
Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board since 1999, member of the Supervisory Board since 1997, appointed until 2024
Entrepreneur
*Born in 1966
Nationality: German
- Industrial engineering degree (Diplom Wirtschaftsingenieur), Technical University Karlsruhe (TH)
- 1994 – 1996 Datacard, Marketing Manager Asia Pacific
- since 1996 independent entrepreneur
Stefan Schmid¹
Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board since 2008, member of the Supervisory Board since 2007, appointed until 2024
Chairman of the Works Council, Dingolfing
*Born in 1965
Nationality: German
- Apprenticeship in power plant electronics; metalworking foreman
- 1985 joined BMW AG
- since 1995 member, since 2004 Chairman of the Works Council, Dingolfing
- since 2004 Deputy Chairman of the General Works Council
Dr. Kurt Bock
Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board since 2021, Member of the Supervisory Board since 2018, appointed until 2023
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BASF SE
*Born in 1958
Nationality: German
- Studied Business Administration at Münster and Cologne universities and at Pennsylvania State University, USA
- 1985 – 1991 various functions in the finance division of BASF AG
- 1991 – 1992 Head of Technology, Director Planning and Controlling for Engineering Plastics, BASF AG
- 1992 – 1996 Senior Vice President Finance and Accounting, Robert Bosch GmbH
- 1996 – 1998 Managing Director, Robert Bosch Ltda., Brazil
- 1998 – 2000 CFO of BASF Corporation, USA
- 2000 – 2002 President of Logistics and Information Services, BASF AG
- 2003 – 2011 Member of the Board of Executive Directors and CFO of BASF AG (BASF SE since 2008), since 2007 also Chairman and CEO of BASF Corporation, USA
- 2011 – 2018 Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, BASF SE
- since 2020 Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BASF SE
Christiane Benner¹
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2014, appointed until 2024
Second Chairwoman of IG Metall
*Born in 1968
Nationality: German
- 1987 – 1993 trained as a multilingual secretary at mechanical engineering company Carl Schenk AG; employed in Sales from 1989 on
- 1993 – 1999 studied sociology at the Philipp University of Marburg and the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main
- 1995 – 1996 earned bachelor’s degree and worked in Chicago, USA
- since 1997 active in various branches and functions at IG Metall
- 2008 – 2011 divisional manager with the Executive Board of IG Metall (IT, engineering, target group work)
- 2011 – 2015 Executive Board member of IG Metall, specialised in IT, R&D, digitisation of work
- since 2015 Second Chairwoman of IG Metall, responsible for business policies, organizational development, target group work and equality, digitalization
Dr. Marc Bitzer
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2021, appointed until 2025
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer und President der Whirlpool Corporation
*Born in 1965
Nationality: German
- 1984 – 1991 Degree and doctorate in economics, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland
- 1991 – 1999 The Boston Consulting Group with periods spent in Munich and Toronto (Canada), most recently as Vice President, Recruiting Director and member of the German Consumer Goods Practice Group
- 2015 – 2017 President, Chief Operating Officer and Director on the Board of Whirlpool Corporation, USA
- seit 1990 Co-Founder Simex Trading AG, Switzerland
- seit 1999 Various management positions with the Bauknecht Brand Group and Whirlpool Corporation in Italy and North America respectively
- seit 2017 Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Whirlpool Corporation, USA
Verena zu Dohna¹
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2019, appointed until 2024
Department Head of the Works Constitution and Co-determination Policy Department with the Executive Board of IG Metall / (In-house) Lawyer
*Born in 1975
Nationality: German
- 1996 – 2001 Law studies at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt a.M.
- 2002 – 2004 First state examination in law and legal clerkship at the higher regional court (OLG) Frankfurt a.M., second state examination in law
- since 2005 Lawyer (company lawyer) with the Executive Board of IG Metall
- since 2015 Head of the Works Constitution and Co-determination Policy Department with the Executive Board of IG Metall / (In-house) Lawyer
Rachel Empey
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2021, appointed until 2025
Member of the Management Board of Fresenius Management SE (Chief Financial Officer)
*Born in 1976
Nationality: British, German
- 1994 – 1997 Degree in Mathematics, University of Oxford (UK)
- 1997 – 2000 Audit Executive Ernst & Young, Bristol (UK)
- 2000 Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Chartered Accountant
- 2000 – 2002 Business Analyst, Lucent Technologies (UK)
- 2002 – 2003 Commercial Director, Weir Group plc (UK)
- 2003 – 2011 Various positions in the Telefónica Group in the UK and Germany
- 2011 – 2017 Member of the Management Board of Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG (Finance, Strategy and Innovation); Joint Leader of the Board, General Manager of Operating Business (2014)
- 2016 – 2021 Non-Executive Director of Inchcape plc (UK)
- Member of the Management Board of Fresenius Management SE (Fresenius Management SE is the General Partner of Fresenius SE & Co KGaA)
Dr.-Ing. Heinrich Hiesinger
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2017, appointed until 2022
Supervisory Board member
*Born in 1960
Nationality: German
- Electrical engineering degree (Diplom-Ingenieur), Technical University of Munich
- 1992 – 2007 various management positions within Siemens Group
- 2007 – 2010 member of the Board of Management, Siemens AG
- 2010 – 2011 Vice Chairman of the Board of Management, thyssenkrupp AG
- 2011 – 2018 Chairman of the Board of Management, thyssenkrupp AG
- since 2019 member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Post AG
Johann Horn¹
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2021, in office until 2024
District Manager of IG Metall Bavaria
*Born in 1958
Nationality: German
- 1977 – 1987 Toolmaker/laboratory mechanic at AEG Nuremberg
- 1987 – 1997 Trade Union Secretary of IG Metall Nuremberg
- 1997 – 1999 Staff and organisational developer at the Association for the Promotion of Professional Development (FFW) in Nuremberg
- 1999 – 2000 Second Representative of IG Metall Ingolstadt
- 2000 – 2018 First Representative of IG Metall Ingolstadt
- 2006 – 2016 First Representative of IG Metall Schwabach
- 2007 – 2018 Honorary Board member of IG Metall
- since 2018 District Manager of IG Metall Bavaria
Susanne Klatten
Member of the Supervisory Board since 1997, appointed until 2024
Entrepreneur
*Born in 1962
Nationality: German
- 1985 BSc Business Studies, University of Buckingham (UoB)
- 1988 MBA, International Institute for Management Development (IMD)
- since 1991 independent entrepreneur
Jens Köhler¹
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2021, in office until 2024
Chairman of the Works Council, Leipzig
*Born in 1964
Nationality: German
- 1991 Joined BMW AG (Chemnitz branch)
- Skilled worker training as motor mechanic/locksmith
- 1996 – 2001 Qualification and master mechanic
- since 1993 member, from 1996 Chairman of the Works Council of the BMW branch in Chemnitz and thus permanent member of the General Works Council of BMW AG
- 2002 Relocation to the Leipzig plant
- since 2002 Chairman of the Works Council, Leipzig
Dr. rer. pol. Dominique Mohabeer¹
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2012, appointed until 2024
Member of the Works Council, Munich
*Born in 1963
Nationality: German
- 1985 – 1988 studied Sinology at University of Munich; attended interpreting school
- 1988 – 1995 studied business administration at University of Munich (Diplom-Kauffrau)
- 1995 – 1999 University of Kassel, research assistant at Institute for Applied Work Science
- 2000 joined BMW AG
- since 2002 member of the Works Council, Munich
Anke Schäferkordt
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2020, appointed until 2025
Member of Supervisory Boards
*Born in 1962
Nationality: German
- Diploma in Business Management, studied at the University of Paderborn,
- 1988 – 1991 various positions at Bertelsmann AG
- 1991 – 1995 various functions at RTL Television
- 1995 – 2005 CFO (until 1998), since 1999 Managing Director of VOX Film- und Fernseh GmbH & Co. KG
- 2012 – 2017 Co-CEO of RTL Group S.A., Luxembourg
- 2005 – 2018 Managing Director of RTL Television und Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland GmbH
- 2012 – 2018 Member of the Board of Directors of Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA
- since 2010 Member of the Supervisory Board of BASF SE
- since 2019 Non-executive director of Wayfair Inc, Boston, Massachusetts, USA and member of the Supervisory Board of Serviceplan Group Management SE
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Christoph M. Schmidt
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2021, appointed until 2025
President of RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research e.V.; University Professor
*Born in 1962
Nationality: German, Australian
- 1987 – 1995 Diploma in economics (University of Mannheim), master und PhD in Economics (Princeton University) and habilitation (University of Munich)
- 1991 – 1995 Research associate / habilitation scholarship of the German Research Foundation (DFG), Seminar for Labor and Population Economics (SELAPO), Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich
- 1995 – 2002 Professor for econometrics, Alfred Weber-Institute (AWI), University of Heidelberg (since 1996 ordinarius & co-chair of AWI)
- 1999 – 2002 Program Director „Evaluation of Labor Market Policies and Projects”, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
- 2009 – 2020 Member of the German Council of Economic Experts (from 2013-2020 chair)
- seit 2002 President of RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research e.V., Essen and Professor for economic policy and applied econometrics, Ruhr University Bochum
- seit 2019 Member of the Franco-German Council of Economic Experts (co-chair since 2020)
- seit 2020 Vice president science and member of the executive board of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech)
Dr. Vishal Sikka
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2019, appointed until 2024
Founder and CEO of Vianai Systems, Inc.
*Born in 1967
Nationality: U.S. American
- 1990 B.Sc. in Computer Science from Syracuse University, New York, USA
- 1990 – 1996 Doctoral studies (Ph.D.) at Stanford University in Artificial Intelligence, USA
- 1996 – 2002 Stations at Xerox, iBrain und Bodha, Inc.
- 2002 – 2010 Various positions at SAP AG
- 2010 – 2014 Member of the Executive Board of SAP AG (since May 2014: SAP SE), Head of all Products and Technology
- 2014 – 2017 CEO and Managing Director of Infosys Limited, India
- since 2018 Founder and CEO of Vianai Systems, Inc., USA
- since 2019 Board of Directors, Oracle
- since 2019 Member of Advisory Council of Standford Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Thomas Wittig¹
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2019, appointed until 2024
Senior Vice President Financial Services
*Born in 1960
Nationality: German
- 1979 – 1984 studied business administration (University of Regensburg), graduated with diploma in business administration
- 1985 – 1988 Research assistant at the institute for business taxation (University of Regensburg), doctorate in economics
- 1988 – 1989 Specialist International Corporate Taxation, Munich Reinsurance AG
- 1989 – 1998 Various function within BMW AG accounting
- 1998 – 2001 Vice President Group Financial Planning and Controlling
- 2001 – 2002 Executive Vice President CFO BMW (US) Holding Corp., USA
- 2003 – 2004 Vice President Sales Planning, Process and IT Planning
- 2005 – 2017 Senior Vice President Group Reporting
- since 2017 Senior Vice President Financial Services
Werner Zierer¹
Member of the Supervisory Board since 2001, appointed until 2024
Chairman of the Works Council, Regensburg
*Born in 1959
Nationality: German
- Apprenticeship in electrical systems installation and power plant electronics with skilled worker certification (IHK)
- 1988 – 1989 qualified as industrial foreman for energy and control systems
- 1981 – 1985 electronics technician at Deutsche Bundesbahn in Regensburg
- 1985 joined BMW AG
- 1986 – 2000 employee representative and Deputy Chairman of the Works Council
- since 2000 Chairman of the Works Council, Regensburg
¹ Employee representatives
Corporate Governance.
Corporate Governance at the BMW Group.
For the BMW Group, corporate governance is an all-embracing topic which involves all areas of the company. Transparent reporting and a corporate governance policy aimed at the interests of stakeholders are well-established traditions within the BMW Group. Cooperation between the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board, in an atmosphere of commonly shared trust and responsibility has long been the basis for managing the BMW Group. The underlying corporate culture at BMW is based on the principles of transparency, placing trust in others and taking responsibility for one's own actions.
The BMW Group believes that the recommendations and suggestions contained in the German Corporate Governance Code help make the German financial market more attractive, in particular for international investors.
Declaration of Compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code.
Articles of Incorporation and Rules of Procedure of BMW AG.
Statement on Corporate Governance.
- Statement on Corporate Governance 2019 (PDF, 4.2 MB)
- Statement on Corporate Governance 2018 (PDF, 221.1 KB)
- Statement on Corporate Governance 2017 (PDF, 214.9 KB)
- Statement on Corporate Governance 2016 (PDF, 207.1 KB)
- Statement on Corporate Governance 2015 (PDF, 191.6 KB)
- Statement on Corporate Governance 2014 (PDF, 183.6 KB)
