Werner Wenning to exit as Chairman of Bayer, Norbert Winkeljohann to succeed Wenning

Werner Wenning to retire after over 50 years with Bayer, he will be succeeded by Prof. Dr. Norbert Winkeljohann.

Photo: Bayer AG
Prof. Dr. Norbert Winkeljohann
Werner Wenning

Bayer Chairman Werner Wenning, will step down in April, with effect from the end of the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting on April 28, 2020. His exit comes in the aftermath of of a $63 billion takeover of Monsanto that has see  the German company entangled in costly lawsuits. He will be succeeded by Prof. Dr. Norbert Winkeljohann, as has been decided at Supervisory Board meeting on Feb 26, 2020. 

The company has seen its stock plunging to almost one fourth of its value since mid 2018, after claims and lawsuits related to Roundup ( herbicide by Monsanto, which Bayer acquired in 2018). The herbicide has been claimed to cause cancer, and the number of plaintiffs related to the same have swelled to over 40000 within one year of acquisition. As per analysts estimate the related lawsuits may end up costing the company upwards of $ 12 billion. In 2018, in one of the first related cases, a California state court jury had awarded almost $300 million in damages to a groundskeeper which was reduced to $78 million.

Winkeljohann has served as Chairman of the Board of Management of PricewaterhouseCoopers Europe SE until June 2018 and has been a member of Bayer’s Supervisory Board since May 2018.

Werner Wenning has been with Bayer for over 50 years, and has been Chairman of the Supervisory Board since 2012 and had been elected to serve until 2022. In his statement Wenning said – “I had originally been intending to step down last year when I reached the standard age limit set forth in the Supervisory Board’s rules of procedure”.However, in view of the company’s situation at that time, the Supervisory Board had asked him to stay on, he explained. “Given my long-standing affiliation with this company, I was happy to do so,” Wenning said. Even before his recent decision to step down, the Nominations Committee had been dealing with the matter of succession planning for some time and had identified Winkeljohann as a candidate, he noted.

“Bayer is making great headway strategically and operationally – the integration of the acquired agriculture business is going very well and good progress is being made with the announced efficiency, structural and portfolio measures,” Wenning said. “Also, we have made and continue to make progress in handling the legal issues in the U.S. That’s why now is a good time to hand over to my successor. I am pleased that in Mr. Winkeljohann, the Supervisory Board has chosen a leader who can guide Bayer into its next chapter as a leading and focused life science company.”

“Mr. Wenning has helped shape Bayer for a great many years. We are very grateful to him – not least because he was willing to extend his term of office again in 2019 to support the company,” said Oliver Zühlke, Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board. “In Mr. Winkeljohann, we have appointed a new Chairman of the Supervisory Board who has acquired extraordinary expertise and extensive experience from his career in management, auditing and consulting,” he added.

“On behalf of the entire Board of Management, I’d like to thank Mr. Wenning for his tremendous service to the company. During the years he spent as Chairman of the Board of Management, he oversaw the company’s strategic realignment. And under his leadership, the Supervisory Board has closely supported the Board of Management and its efforts to transform Bayer into a life science company,” said Werner Baumann, Chairman of the Board of Management. “We congratulate Mr. Winkeljohann on his appointment and look forward to working with him in his new role.”

Werner Wenning  joined Bayer in April 1966 as a commercial trainee. Since October 1, 2012, he has served as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Prof. Dr. Norbert Winkeljohann, served as CEO for Europe and Germany at PwC, a consulting and auditing company with over 20,000 employees between 2010 and 2018.

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