Retire at 67
Herbert Diess leaves VW permanently – retirement begins
He has not been at the top of the group since 2022, but was still the highest-paid VW manager until recently. Now Herbert Diess is really retiring.
A good three years after his departure from the top of VW, Herbert Diess is now actually retiring: This Friday – Diess’ 67th birthday – his contract ends, and from Saturday he will receive retirement benefits, a VW spokesman confirmed in response to a request from the German Press Agency. This ends the long phase in which Diess continued to receive a board salary in the millions even after his dismissal.
Diess was most recently the group’s highest-paid manager: including pension provision and variable remuneration for several years, he received almost 11.2 million euros last year, according to the group’s annual report. This meant he earned more than his successor Oliver Blume, who earned a good 10.3 million euros.
Last but not least, the reason is a salary waiver by Blume: The CEO, together with the other active board members, had already waived five percent of the basic salary in 2024 in order to participate in the savings program. This year and next year it should be eleven percent. Former board member Diess, however, was not cut.
Contract extension shortly before cancellation
Diess had to hand over the position of CEO to Blume in 2022, but remained on the Wolfsburg-based company’s payroll. Reason: His contract was extended again in 2021 – a year before he was replaced – and continued to run undeterred – until his 67th birthday, which he celebrates this Friday.
Actually, as it was said when Diess was dismissed, the ex-boss should continue to work as a consultant for the group. Little of it was noticeable. Instead, Diess joined the supervisory board of chip manufacturer Infineon in 2023 and took over as chairman. He is involved in several start-ups – and is often in Spain, where he runs a small hotel, including a cattle farm and a pear plantation, as he told the video podcast “Jung & Naiv” at the end of last year.
Software problems and rough management style
The Munich native came to VW from BMW in 2015. In 2018 he was promoted to CEO. After the diesel scandal was exposed, Diess courageously set the company on an electric course. He had a friendship with Tesla boss Elon Musk. Diess, with his rough management style, regularly clashed with his own works council and fought power struggles with the powerful employee representatives in Wolfsburg.
The fact that he had to give up in the end is primarily attributed to the problems at the software company Cariad, which repeatedly caused delays in model launches. Many of Diess’ decisions were corrected after his departure, especially the software strategy, according to which Cariad should develop everything itself if possible. The design and naming of the electric cars have also been corrected.
dpa
Source: Stern
