Peter Löscher

Peter Löscher (born 17 September 1957 in Villach, Austria) is an Austrian manager and former president, Global Human Health at global pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. He was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of Siemens on 20 May 2007 as the successor of Klaus Kleinfeld, and was selected to take on the new position on 1 July 2007.[1] As of 2017, Löscher remains as the only CEO to be hired from outside the conglomerate in the 170-year history of Siemens.[2]

Peter Löscher
Peter Löscher at the Financial Times CNBC Davos Nightcap, 26 January 2012

Early life and education

Peter Löscher graduated from Gymnasium Villach/Austria in 1978 and got a master's degree at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. Later he attended but did not obtain a degree from an MBA program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and attended the six-week Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School. In 2007 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering from Michigan State University.[3]

Career
The President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Peter Löscher in 2010.
Peter Löscher, President and CEO of Siemens, with Maria Bartiromo, the television journalist, at the FT CNBC Davos Nightcap, 26th January 2012.

From 1988 until 2000 he worked for the German pharmaceutical company Hoechst in Spain, Japan, Great Britain and the United States. After Hoechst merged with Rhone-Poulenc he stayed at Aventis until 2002.[4] He then joined Amersham, which was taken over by General Electric. In 2006 he became a member of the executive board of the US pharmaceutical company Merck[5].

Löscher became the first CEO of Siemens AG to be appointed from outside the company in 2007.[6] Under Löscher, Siemens spun off its Osram lighting unit and sold its half of a joint venture with Nokia that supplied equipment for mobile telecommunication networks.[7] In 2012, he earned 8.7 million euros.[8] In late 2012, he initiated efforts to save 6 billion euros ($7.7 billion) over the following two years.[9]

In his capacity as CEO, he accompanied Chancellor Angela Merkel on various state visits, including to China in 2012.[10]

Following a series of missteps under his leadership, including a late delivery of high-speed ICE trains for German national railroad Deutsche Bahn and delays in completing offshore wind turbine projects,[11] he was replaced by Joe Kaeser (Josef Käser) as CEO and left Siemens in July 2013,[12] four years before the end of his contract.[13]

Under the terms of his pay-off of 17 million euros from Siemens,[14] Löscher was obliged not to work for a "significant competitor" of the company until September 2015. In 2014, he was hired by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg to serve as chief executive of Renova Management (RMAG), which oversees his international industrial holdings, including stakes in Sulzer and in Oerlikon.[15] He left Renova in 2016, amid disagreements with Vekselberg.[16]

In Munich, Löscher shares an office with Ann-Kristin Achleitner, Paul Achleitner, Michael Diekmann and Joachim Faber.[17]

Other activities

Corporate boards
  • Salesforce, Member of the Advisory Board on Europe, the Middle East and Africa (since 2020)[18][19]
  • Philips, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2020)[20]
  • Telefónica Germany, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2020)[21][22]
  • Doha Venture Capital, Member of the Board of Directors
  • Telefónica, Independent Member of the Board of Directors (since 2016)[23]
  • Sulzer, Chairman of the Board of Directors (since 2014)[24]
  • TBG AG, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2013)[25]
  • OMV, Chair of the Supervisory Board (2016-2019)[26][27]
  • Deutsche Bank, Member of the European Advisory Board (2011),[28] Member of the Supervisory Board (2012-2017)[29]
  • Munich Re, Member of the Supevisory Board (2009-2014)[30][31]

Non-profit organizations
  • Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business (APA), Chairman (2010-2014)
  • Siemens Stiftung, Chairman of the Board of Trustees (2008-2014)

Personal life

Löscher speaks German, English, French, Spanish, and Japanese.[32] He and his Spanish-born wife have three children. According to an interview in the New York Times, Löscher was the captain of the volleyball team at high school and college.[33]

References
  1. Merck Announces Resignation of Peter Loescher, President, Global Human Health Archived 14 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Spiegel Online, 21 May 2007 "Peter Löscher, an Outsider, Named New CEO"
  3. Siemens Archived 17 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Nicola Leske (20 May 2007), Merck's Loescher to be Siemens' first outsider CEO Reuters.
  5. "Merck Names Peter Loescher to Newly Created Position of President, Global Human Health; Health Care Industry Veteran with Broad Global Experience to Lead Merck's Marketing and Sales Operations Worldwide". www.businesswire.com. 3 April 2006. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  6. Angela Monaghan (29 July 2013). "Siemens chief executive, Peter Loescher, heading for the exit". theguardian.com. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  7. Jack Ewing (28 July 2013), Siemens to Oust Chief After String of Setbacks New York Times.
  8. Chris Bryant (27 November 2013), Loescher to get €17m pay-off from Siemens Financial Times.
  9. Maria Sheahan (8 November 2012), Siemens to sharpen its game with $7.7 billion of savings Reuters.
  10. Christian Geinitz (4 February 2012), Besuch der Kanzlerin: China will Europa nicht aufkaufen Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
  11. Jack Ewing (28 July 2013), Siemens to Oust Chief After String of Setbacks New York Times.
  12. Jack Ewing (28 July 2013). "Siemens to Oust Chief After String of Setbacks". The New York Times.
  13. Jack Ewing (27 July 2013), Siemens CEO to leave following profit warning Reuters.
  14. Chris Bryant (27 November 2013), Loescher to get €17m pay-off from Siemens Financial Times.
  15. Chris Bryant and Arash Massoudi (18 September 2014), Ex-chief poses dilemma for Siemens Financial Times.
  16. Sven Clausen (18 April 2016), Peter Löschers Trennung von Oligarch Vekselberg: Matschschlacht um Ex-Siemens-Chef Löscher Manager Magazin.
  17. Henning Peitsmeier and Klaus Max Smolka (22 May 2017), Die geheime Machtzentrale in München Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
  18. Salesforce Appoints Advisory Board to Support Growth in EMEA Salesforce, press release of 26 May 2020.
  19. Tanja Kewes (1 June 2020), Ex-BMW-Chef Krüger arbeitet nun für kanadischen Pensionsfonds Handelsblatt.
  20. Philips to nominate Feike Sijbesma and Peter Löscher as members of the Supervisory Board Philips, press release of 17 December 2019.
  21. Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG: Peter Löscher soll Mitglied des Aufsichtsrats von Telefónica Deutschland werden Telefónica Germany, press release of 17 February 2020.
  22. Neuer Job für Peter Löscher Manager Magazin, 18 February 2020.
  23. The Board of Directors of Telefónica approves the appointment of José María Álvarez-Pallete as Executive Chairman Telefónica, press release of 8 April 2016.
  24. Peter Löscher reelected as Chairman of Sulzer’s Board of Directors, Sulzer, press release of 4 April 2018.
  25. Christian Teevs (3 February 2013), Peter Löscher: Siemens-Chef überwacht Milliarden-Imperium von Thyssen-Erben Der Spiegel.
  26. Hans-Peter Siebenhaar (14 September 2018), Ex-Siemens-Chef Löscher tritt bei OMV als Chefaufseher ab Handelsblatt.
  27. Peter Löscher announced his resignation as Chairman of the OMV Supervisory Board at the Annual General Meeting 2019 OMV, press release of 14 September 2018.
  28. 2011 Annual Report: Advisory Boards Deutsche Bank.
  29. Axel Höpner, Yasmin Osman and Hans-Peter Siebenhaar (14 March 2017), Ex-Siemens-Chef zieht sich aus Deutschland zurück Handelsblatt.
  30. Munich Re: Consistent risk management pays off in the crisis Munich Re, press release of 22 April 2009.
  31. Munich Re: Changes on the Board of Management and proposals for election to the Supervisory Board Munich Re, press release of 19 March 2014.
  32. Nicola Leske (20 May 2007), Merck's Loescher to be Siemens' first outsider CEO Reuters.
  33. Patricia Laya (2 August 2011). "As Soon As You Believe That You Are On Top Of The Game, You Probably Have Lost It". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013.

Further reading
Preceded by
Klaus Kleinfeld		 CEO of Siemens
2007 – 31 July 2013		 Succeeded by
Joe Kaeser
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