Today, Siemens AG (SIEGY 1.73%) announced that its Chief Financial Officer since 2006, Joe Kaeser, will take over as President and CEO starting Aug. 1. The company said that current CEO Peter Löscher – who's held the position since 2007 – will officially resign at the end of today.
In a press release, Siemens said Löscher will remain with the company for a number of duties, including chairing the Board of Trustees of the Siemens Stiftung, a foundation with the mission of "empowering people." Löscher said in the statement that, "The interests of individuals – including my own – must take second place to the well-being of Siemens as a whole."
The company had said Saturday night that the supervisory board would meet Wednesday to decide on Löscher's departure -- a terse announcement that was followed by media reports of infighting.
The prospect of trouble even prompted Chancellor Angela Merkel to express concern. Spokesman Georg Streiter said earlier this week the German leader considered it important that the company -- a "flagship" of German industry -- return to "calm waters."
Munich-based Siemens makes industrial machinery such as power generation and transmission equipment, high-speed trains, and medical diagnostic scanners. It has 370,000 employees, including 56,500 in the United States.
Incoming CEO Kaeser said in the release, "Our company is certainly not in crisis, nor is it in need of major restructuring. However, we've been too preoccupied with ourselves lately and have lost some of our profit momentum vis-à-vis our competitors."
With his move to CEO, Kaeser leaves the CFO position vacant. Siemens said that the position will be filled "very shortly."
-- Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
