Zumwinkel to quit his roles at Deutsche (Germany)
Klaus Zumwinkel is to retire as chairman of Deutsche Telekom and chief executive of Deutsche Post , ending the tenure of a man long backed by the German government but criticised by other shareholders in the companies.
People close to Mr Zumwinkel said, given that he turned 65 in December, the moves were “inevitable”. But government officials said Berlin had become wary of backing him for positions other than as chairman of Post, an appointment he will take up.
Last year he fought for a minimum wage for postal workers, a move that saw rivals ditch plans for letter services – and gave the Social Democrats in the left-right coalition government a cause to champion.
However, an outcry ensued in December when he took advantage of the ensuing spike in the Post stock price to sell shares in the company.
This added to pressure at Telekom, which ousted top executives after rising client defections in 2006. Blackstone, the private equity group which holds 5 per cent in the telecoms group, lobbied for Mr Zumwinkel’s departure.
The US investor, along with other Anglo-American investors, said Mr Zumwinkel was too busy sorting out problems after Post’s unhappy foray into the US to devote enough attention to a troubled Telekom.
The German government owns about a third of each company’s stock, giving it the most powerful voice on both supervisory boards. The finance ministry, Telekom and Post declined to comment.
Mr Zumwinkel has yet to declare his intentions publicly. For a while he even kept key investors guessing, a delay that might have made succession trickier at both companies.
People familiar with the situation said the favoured candidate for Telekom, non-executive director and Linde chief executive Wolfgang Reitzle, had turned down the offer.
At Post, these people said, Berlin and the unions were pushing for Frank Appel, Mr Zumwinkel’s protégé and board member, to be chief executive, while institutional investors favoured chief financial officer John Allan.
Berlin and the services union Verdi support him, so it is likely Mr Appel, who runs Post’s global logistics operation, will become chief executive when Mr Zumwinkel’s contract expires towards the end of this year.
Matters are trickier at Telekom. Berlin would like to present a new chairman to shareholders at the May annual meeting but needs Blackstone’s backing before any official nomination.
