Former Telekom boss René Obermann is scheduled to become the new SAP Supervisory Board. According to the incumbent head of the supervisory board Pekka Ala-Pietilä, Obermann is to be elected to the control committee next year, and the following year will take the chair. In a letter to the shareholders at the general meeting in May: Pietilä writes: Obermann qualifies for the mandate “with his outstanding international career”. He has experiences as a company founder, as a former CEO of Telekom, chairman of the supervisory board of Airbus and European boss of the American private equity company Warburg Pincus. Obermann brings “the strategic foresight, the understanding of the market, the leadership skills and the experience in corporate management, which is necessary for this role. The term of office of Pietilä ends in 2026. The former Nokia boss was in the supervisory board for many years and jumped as chairman in 2024 when the first succession for the outgoing company founder Hasso Platter failed. After a long time. The supervisory board has chosen the former Deloitte boss Punit Renjen as the successor. Mutual agreement separated – a setback remarkable in the group world. Pietilä was considered a temporary candidate right from the start. A question will be whether Obermann keeps his other offices, in particular the chairmanship of Airbus. Obermann, 62 years old and married to moderator Maybrit Illner in a second marriage, is considered assertive and strong opinion. In Telekom times he had the nickname “T-Rex” among employees. From 2006 to 2013 he was at the top of Telekom, and since 2020 he has been chairman of the Airbus Supervisory Board.
