Klaus Kleinfeld
Encyclopedia
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
(CEO) of Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
Inc., and former CEO of Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
.
In August 2007, Kleinfeld was appointed COO of Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
Inc.
Beginning October 1, 2007, he oversaw the operative business for the US Aluminum concern. In May 2008, Kleinfeld was appointed as CEO of Alcoa, thus succeeding Alain Belda.
Kleinfeld was CEO of Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
from 2005 until July 2007.On April 25, 2007, Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
distributed a press release announcing that Kleinfeld was not available for a renewal of his contract. This was preceded by the supervisory board's indecisiveness in light of the ongoing corruption investigations at Siemens.
He started his career in 1982 by joining a specialized marketing consulting firm and worked with clients like Siemens, Henkel, Citibank, EFFEN, and industry associations.
Compensation
Klaus Kleinfeld has taken initiatives to reduce costs at Alcoa, including cutting back production and slashing jobs. The first company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to announce results for the three months through June 2009, Alcoa reported narrower losses than forecasted on Wall Street. "Our cash generation initiatives, productivity improvements, and portfolio changes are working," said Mr. Kleinfeld in a written statement. "Now Alcoa has the staying power and reduced cost base to withstand the most serious downturn in the history of the aluminum industry."While CEO of Alcoa in 2009, Klaus Kleinfeld earned a total compensation of $11,214,266; which included a base salary of $1,400,000; a cash bonus of $3,754,800; options granted of $5,832,000; and other compensation of $227,466.
History
Kleinfeld received a business degree from Georg August University in GöttingenGöttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, Germany and a Ph.D. in management, University of Würzburg
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...
.
In 1986, he joined Ciba-Geigy in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
(Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
), where he was a product manager in the Pharmaceutical Division.
Kleinfeld has worked for Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
since 1987. His first position was in the company’s Corporate Sales and Marketing unit.
In January 2001, Kleinfeld moved to the United States, where he served first as chief operating officer (COO) and then – from 2002 to 2004 – as president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
and chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
(CEO) of Siemens USA.
In January 2004, Klaus Kleinfeld was appointed to Siemens’ Corporate Executive Committee.
Kleinfeld was appointed Vice President of Siemens AG in the middle of 2004 and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on January 27, 2005, succeeding Dr. Heinrich von Pierer
Heinrich von Pierer
Heinrich von Pierer is a German manager. From 1992 to 2005, he was CEO of Siemens AG. Subsequently, he was chairman of the supervisory board from which he resigned on 25 April 2007.Pierer studied law and economics in Erlangen and joined Siemens in 1969...
. As CEO, Kleinfeld set about restructuring Siemens. This led to the company turning in profits last year of $3.96 billion (up 35%) and increasing Siemens share price by 40%. His attempts at modernization, however, brought him into conflict with the defenders of Siemens business culture, both inside and outside the company. While generally viewed positively by the worldwide financial press, Kleinfeld regularly received criticism from the media in Germany, mostly for lack of social responsility against Siemens workers.
Under his leadership, the company's financially stricken mobile handset business was sold for a negative charge to Taiwan's BenQ
BenQ
BenQ Corporation is a Taiwanese multi-national company that sells and markets consumer electronics, computing and communications devices under the "BenQ" brand name, which stands for the company slogan Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to life .- Company :BenQ sells and markets technology products,...
in June 2005. The German subsidiary, BenQ Mobile GmbH & Co. OHG
BenQ-Siemens
BenQ-Siemens was the mobile communications subsidiary of Taiwanese BenQ Corp. The division was formed out of BenQ's acquisition of the then struggling Siemens mobile group in 2005. The stated goal of the company was to pull together BenQ's lifestyle experience, their design team and Siemens'...
, declared bankruptcy about one year later when the Taiwanese parent enterprise stopped all funding, resulting in extensive redundancies. This led to speculation in the German media that Siemens had off-loaded the division to avoid dealing with the fallout of its imminent demise. At about the same time, Siemens' Supervisory Board
Supervisory board
A supervisory board or supervisory committee, often called board of directors, is a group of individuals chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company and to hire and supervise the executive directors and CEO.Corporate governance varies...
increased the salary of the Siemens Board of Directors by 30% although, in an attempt at damage limitation over the negative publicity involved in the redundancies, the board pledged their pay rises to a relief fund set up by Siemens to aid the workers affected.
In 2006, a series of corruption charges were laid against Siemens. Kleinfeld, along with other former Siemens executives and board members, was "accused of failing to prevent corruption". In September 2009, Siemens extended an offer to Kleinfeld and other former members of "its Managing Board against whom damages are being claimed ... to declare their willingness to reach a settlement." While Kleinfeld denied wrongdoing and no charges were brought, he agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to settle the matter.
Kleinfeld is a member of the board of directors of Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
Inc., of Bayer
Bayer
Bayer AG is a chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen , Germany in 1863. It is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and well known for its original brand of aspirin.-History:...
AG and of Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
Inc. After the announcement that he would be joining Alcoa, he resigned from the Citigroup board as Alcoa’s then CEO was the lead director for the board.
Publications
- Corporate Identity und strategische Unternehmensführung, Akademie-Verlag München 1994, ISBN 3-929115-16-6