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| Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Reitzle became President and CEO of the Executive Board on January 1, 2003. |
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Wolfgang Reitzle studied mechanical engineering at Munich Technical University, where he received an engineering degree in 1971 and thereafter completed a doctorate in engineering four years later. Subsequently he obtained a degree in labor and economics science at the same university. The economics faculty of the Munich Technical University appointed Wolfgang Reitzle honorary professor for major business management in 2005.
Wolfgang Reitzle joined BMW AG in 1976, where he worked for 23 years. For 13 years at BMW, he was a member of the Executive Board, and was credited with bringing many of the German automotive manufacturer’s most successful products to market.
From 1999 to 2002 he worked at the Ford Motor Company as Group Vice President. At the same time, he was Chairman and CEO of Premier Automotive Group, which includes Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lincoln, Volvo and Land Rover.
Wolfgang Reitzle started working at the German DAX-listed company Linde AG in May 2002 as a member of the Executive Board and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in January 2003. Under his leadership, the diversified technology company has become a focused world leading gases and engineering company.
Within a comprehensive group reorganisation, Linde first sold the refrigerating business in 2004. In September 2006, the acquisition of the British competitor British BOC Group was completed and the Material Handling division (forklifts) was split off.
In 2006 Reitzle was awarded the title “Manager of the Year” by the German business magazines “manager magazin” and “Wirtschaftswoche”, which praised the successful group reorganisation.
Wolfgang Reitzle is member of the Supervisory Board of Telekom AG.