Werner Baumann

Werner Baumann (born 6 October 1962) is a German businessman who has been serving as chief executive officer (CEO) of Bayer from 2016 to 2023 and founder of Bayer Animation.[1]

Werner Baumann
Born (1962-10-06) 6 October 1962
Krefeld, West Germany (now Germany)
EducationRWTH Aachen University
University of Cologne
Occupation(s)CEO, Bayer
PredecessorMarijn Dekkers
SpouseMarried
Children4

Early life

Baumann was born on 6 October 1962 in Krefeld, Germany.[2] Baumann was the first of his family to attend university, studying economics at RWTH Aachen University and the University of Cologne.[2] Despite having interest in working for an auditing firm, he chose to work at Bayer, thinking he could finish his doctorate degree. In 2018, he founded his own company Bayer Animation.[3]

Career

Baumann began working for Bayer, the German multinational, pharmaceutical and life sciences company, in 1988. He started his career in the finance department and later worked under Werner Wenning as his assistant in Bayer's Spanish business division.[3]

Baumann began to rise through the ranks and went on to hold the position of chief financial officer[4] and chief of strategy. As chief of strategy, Baumann played a key role in the Bayer AG acquisition of Schering in 2006.[5][6]

CEO of Bayer, 2016–present

In February 2016, Baumann was announced as the next CEO of Bayer, succeeding Marijn Dekkers.[7][8] After only four weeks as CEO, Baumann launched a US$62 billion all cash takeover bid for Monsanto, an American agricultural, seed, and agrochemical company.[9] The acquisition took over 20 months to complete and closed on 7 June 2018. Losses for Bayer investors reach tens of billions of Euros just two years after the acquisition. His position as CEO of Bayer was renewed in 2020 until 2024 before the general meeting of shareholders in 2021.[10][11][12] By 2023, Bayer investor DekaBank called for Baumann to be replaced ahead of his scheduled departure.[13]

Other activities
  • Baden-Badener Unternehmer-Gespräche (BBUG), Member of the Board of Trustees[14]
  • German Future Prize, Member of the Board of Trustees[15]

Personal life

Baumann is married with four children and resides in Krefeld, Germany.[2][3]

References
  1. Patricia Weiss, Svea Herbst, Kirsti Knolle, Christoph Steitz and Ludwig Burger (8 February 2023), Bayer picks outsider Anderson as CEO after investor pressure Reuters.
  2. Bayer AG. "Werner Baumann".
  3. "Bayer chief picks contentious path for growth with Monsanto bid". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  4. "Bayer confirms Werner Baumann as new chief". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  5. "Bayer AG Confirms Strategy Chief Werner Baumann as New CEO | BioSpace". BioSpace. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  6. Burger, Ludwig. "Bayer strategy head Baumann set to be named CEO: source". U.S. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  7. Johannes Koch (24 February 2016). "Bayer Names Werner Baumann to Succeed Marijn Dekkers as CEO". Bloomberg.com.
  8. "Werner Baumann takes top Bayer job May 1 as Marijn Dekkers exits". FiercePharma.
  9. Marlow, Ben (2016-05-28). "Baumann's monster may be best left in the corporate finance lab". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  10. "Bayer to eliminate Monsanto name, but that won't end controversy". Handelsblatt Global Edition. 2018-06-05. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  11. "Bayer plans closing of Monsanto acquisition on June 7". High Plains Journal. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  12. "Bayer closes Monsanto acquisition" (Press release). Bayer AG. June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  13. Ludwig Burger (28 January 2023), Bayer investor calls for swift replacement of CEO -newspaper Reuters.
  14. Board of Trustees Baden-Badener Unternehmer-Gespräche (BBUG).
  15. Board of Trustees Deutscher Zukunftspreis.


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