2024-03-12 10:56:29
Two generations have so far led the Hamburg Otto Group: After the founder, Werner Otto, his son Michael shaped the development of the trading group for decades. Now the third generation will soon take over.
There will be a generational change at the Hamburg mail order giant Otto in the next two years. The company patriarch Michael Otto (80) wants to hand over leadership in two steps by 2026. This is intended to ensure a smooth transition at the top of the family business.
Otto’s son Benjamin (48) will take over the chairmanship of the board of trustees on March 1, 2026, as the Otto Group announced on Monday. The board of trustees represents the Michael Otto Foundation as the majority owner of the Otto Group. “At the same time, he will take over the chairmanship of the shareholders’ council, from which the strategic goals of the group of companies will be formulated and controlled in the future.”
Generational change is “one of the biggest challenges”
A year earlier, the previous CEO Alexander Birken moved to the position of chairman of the supervisory board instead of Michael Otto. Birken’s successor on the Otto board will be Petra Scharner-Wolff, the previous finance and human resources manager. At the same time, Katy Roewer joins the board and takes over Scharner-Wolff’s responsibilities.
This marks the end of a decades-long era at Otto. “The period was deliberately chosen to enable a gradual transition in peace and quiet,” the statement said. “One of the biggest challenges for family businesses is successful generational change,” Michael Otto is quoted as saying. “I am very confident that Benjamin will not only lead the Otto Group into a good economic future, but will also keep the special values of our family company alive.”
Otto should remain in the hands of the family
Otto contributed his majority stake in Otto to a charitable foundation in 2014. “It was important to me that the family always had the say and that the headquarters of our company remained in Hamburg and could not, for example, be relocated to any tax haven,” is his credo. It was said that Otto himself wanted to devote more time to his foundation activities after his retirement. This includes the Michael Otto Environmental Foundation, founded in 1993.
Otto, son of the company’s founder Werner Otto, joined the board of the trading group in 1971 and took over its chairmanship for 26 years in 1981. In 2007, Otto moved to the top of the supervisory board. Benjamin Otto has been a member and “design partner” of the Otto Group’s shareholder council since mid-2015, as well as a member of the board of trustees of the Michael Otto Foundation. He had already done his journeyman job by tracking down the Collins internet trading project. Collins later became the group company About You, which is now listed on the stock exchange.