VIPsight - February 2013

COMPANIES

Shareholders rebel against Cromme

The Annual General Meeting of ThyssenKrupp has, despite the debates about billions in losses, bad investments in America and compliance failures, given discharge to all Management Board and Supervisory Board members for the business year 2011/12 (30 September). In his speech, Cromme acknowledged errors: “If you ask me if we as a Supervisory Board could in the past have done some things better, then I will honestly say: Yes, we trusted too long, we could have acted sooner.” The discharge to the Supervisory Board chief turned out weak: Cromme received only 69.16 per cent approval. The nine-and-a-half-hour Siemens meeting was also dominated by frustration about the course of business, harsh criticism of the Supervisory Board chief and anger over the remuneration of the Board.  So that the almost 70-year-old could be re-elected as chair, the statute, which had originally planned an age limit, was amended. Cromme received only 90.7 percent for re-election and so ended up below most of his supervisory colleagues. As at ThyssenKrupp he had to meet allegations that he had not done justice to his role as chief overseer.