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FB Roundup: Maersk, Tengelmann, and VW

By Alexandra Newlove

Maersk eyes female CFO candidates

Maersk may hire its first female chief financial officer to join its all-male executive, following its election of one of the least gender-diverse boards in Denmark.

AP Moller Maersk chairman Jim Hagemann Snabe, pictured, spoke to Bloomberg following the company’s AGM, saying more diversity would be good for the 1904-founded company and there were “women on the list” of candidates to replace departed chief financial officer Jakob Stausholm.

Among major Danish companies, Maersk has the second-worst gender balance ratio on its board, with 20% women. Its current executive team of five are all male.

“I have seen it in my professional life [and] in my other leadership positions that an organisation which has better diversity and more women becomes a better business,” Snabe said.

Maersk is controlled by the eponymous family via AP Moller Holding A/S, which is chaired by matriarch Ane Maersk Mc-Kinney Uggla. Maersk’s 2017 revenue was just under $31 billion.

Tengelmann hit by back-to-back tragedies

The head of family-owned supermarket chain Tengelmann has gone missing following an off-piste skiing expedition, contributing to a tragic start to the year for Germany’s Haub family.

Chief executive Karl-Erivan Haub, pictured, 58, was skiing in the Swiss Alps near Matterhorn on 7 April, but did not return, prompting a desperate search and rescue mission in adverse weather.

Writing in German newspaper Handelsblatt, Christian Haub describe his missing brother as an experienced skier, and that the family was hopeful but prepared for bad news. He said the business would continue to run efficiently in his brother’s absence.

Karl-Erivan Haub took control of Tengelmann from his father Erivan Haub in 2000. The elder Haub died unexpectedly in March.

Tengelmann, which has supermarkets in Germany and central Europe, was founded in 1867 and generated €30 billion ($37 billion) in revenue last year.

VW to replace stopgap chief

Volkswagen AG looks set to replace its chief executive Matthias Müller with the head of its VW brand, Herbert Deiss, as the company aims to put further distance between itself and the diesel emissions scandal that has plagued it since 2015.

In a cryptic statement, VW said it was “considering further development of the management structure of the group” and that Müller “showed his general willingness to contribute to the changes”.

Müller (pictured) was installed in 2015 following the company admitting it cheated emissions tests, a scandal which became known as “dieselgate”. He was considered a stopgap appointment to steer the group through the crisis, and VW enjoyed record sales in 2017, with a 143% year-on-year profit increase in 2017, to €3.3 billion ($4.1 billion).

Deiss, his potential successor, is known as a ruthless cost-cutter and has been unpopular historically with VW’s worker unions. The company’s share price rose 4% following the announcement Müller might be replaced.

Volkswagen AG is controlled by the holding company of Germany’s Porsche and Piech families.

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