Stuttgart, Germany, January 4, 2023. Professor Hans Sommer, who co-founded the Drees & Sommer Group and after whom it is named, has resigned from the Supervisory Board and stepped down as its Chairperson with effect from December 31, 2022. Hans Sommer has worked for the company for more than 50 years. During this time, it has grown from three staff members in Stuttgart to 4,500 employees in more than 50 international locations. The Group’s revenues amounted to EUR 575 million in 2021, with operating profits of almost EUR 70 million.
Dr. Johannes Fritz will become Chairperson of the Supervisory Board with effect from January 1, 2023. He is a long-standing member of the Supervisory Board, and in recent years he has performed the role of Deputy Chairperson. Until 2020, he worked in a number of management positions in the Quandt and Klatten Family Office for more than 30 years; prior to this he worked at Bertelsmann and KPMG. He is now a member of various supervisory and advisory boards.
Professor Sommer will be replaced on the Supervisory Board by his son Dr. Axel Sommer, who in 2014 founded the Berlin and Heidelberg-based innovation consultancy firm SOMMERRUST with a partner, having previously worked for many years as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.
The Deputy Chairperson is Dr. Bernd Gaiser from Stuttgart, former managing director of RECARO Holding and previously CEO of HORVÁTH Management Consulting.
Steffen Szeidl, Spokesperson of the Executive Board of Drees & Sommer, commented: ‘On behalf of the Supervisory Board, the Executive Board, the Partners and all the staff of Drees & Sommer, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Hans Sommer for his many years of close and trusting collaboration with us. In recognition of his outstanding services and to underline his continuing connection with the company, the Executive Board, Partners and Supervisory Board have appointed him Honorary Chairperson of the Supervisory Board. We will thus continue to benefit from his critical thinking, his entrepreneurial spirit and his innovativeness as he remains with us in an advisory capacity. As an example, Drees & Sommer is planning an energy transition convention with Professor Sommer for the first half of 2023, which will deal with pragmatic approaches to protecting our planet for future generations.’
Steffen Szeidl added: ‘We are also delighted to welcome Dr. Johannes Fritz as the new Chairperson of the Supervisory Board. With his extensive experience, he will be an excellent successor to Hans Sommer and continue to oversee the company’s activities into the future.‘
More photos and a detailed interview with Prof. Dr. Hans Sommer can be found following this link.