At its meeting, the Supervisory Board of E.ON SE resolved to appoint Leonhard Birnbaum as Chairman of the company's Board of Management effective April 1, 2021.
Birnbaum will thus succeed Johannes Teyssen. Teyssen joined the Group in 1989, has been a member of the Board of Management since 2004, and has led E.ON for more than ten years.
European energy transition
Supervisory Board Chairman, Karl-Ludwig Kley, said: “The integration of innogy marks the successful completion of E.ON's major corporate restructuring so far. For the new E.ON, it will be important in the coming years to build on this stable foundation and to further develop the company as a driver of the European energy transition in the digital age for our customers, society, and our investors.”
The Supervisory Board is convinced that Leonhard Birnbaum is the right person for this task"
“The Supervisory Board is convinced that Leonhard Birnbaum is the right person for this task. He has played a key role in shaping the transformation of the energy industry over the past 20 years in various top positions and is regarded as a bridge-builder. He has played a decisive role in shaping the digitalization of the network business and convincingly led the integration of innogy into the new E.ON,” adds Karl-Ludwig Kley.
Most eventful phase
At the same time, Karl-Ludwig Kley thanked Johannes Teyssen for his achievements over the past two decades, stating: “On behalf of the Supervisory Board and all 75,000 employees of E.ON, I would like to thank Johannes Teyssen already today for leading the Group through what has probably been the most eventful phase in the company's history to date.”
He continues, “He shaped the company for more than 30 years and led it with courage, foresight, and determination through a historic phase of profound upheaval for the energy sector. Johannes Teyssen successfully completed the Group's far-reaching transformation. E.ON's current positioning as one of the pioneers of the energy transition in Europe and a reliable interlocutor for policymakers, economy, and society is inextricably linked with his name and his person.”
Artificial Intelligence (AI) organization
As part of the succession plan for the top of the Group, the Supervisory Board also announced that Victoria Ossadnik, currently Chairwoman of the Board of Management of E.ON Energie Deutschland GmbH, will be appointed to the Board of Management effective April 1, 2021.
Ossadnik, who joined the E.ON Group in April 2018, previously spent seven years at Microsoft
Ossadnik, who joined the E.ON Group in April 2018, previously spent seven years at Microsoft Corporation, where she most recently led the Group's global Enterprise Service Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) organization. In the future, she will be responsible for digitization of E.ON Group.
Proven digitization expert
Karl-Ludwig Kley said, “In Victoria Ossadnik, Leonhard Birnbaum has been able to recruit an internationally proven digitization expert for his future board team who, in her previous role as the person responsible for the German sales business, also proved that she can lead a large organization through fundamental, technology-driven changes.”
“With a dedicated department for digitalization at the Board of Management level, we are setting an exclamation mark, and thus, underlining that we see the elementary importance of digital technology and innovation in the further transformation of the entire energy sector and the E.ON Group,” concludes Karl-Ludwig Kley.