Endress+Hauser initiates generational change

Dr. h. c. Klaus Endress wird nach fast 45 Jahren seine aktive Mitarbeit im Unternehmen beenden. / Dr Klaus Endress will end his active involvement in the company after nearly 45 years.

Matthias Altendorf, bislang CEO der Endress+Hauser Gruppe, folgt 2024 als Präsident des Verwaltungsrats. / Matthias Altendorf, to date CEO of the Endress+Hauser Group, will become Supervisory Board president in 2024.

Dr. Peter Selders, Geschäftsführer von Endress+Hauser Level+Pressure, ist ab 2024 CEO der Endress+Hauser Gruppe. / Dr Peter Selders, managing director of Endress+Hauser Level+Pressure, will be CEO of the Endress+Hauser Group as of 2024.

Steven Endress, Geschäftsführer von Endress+Hauser Großbritannien, wechselt in den Verwaltungsrat der Gruppe. / Steven Endress, managing director of Endress+Hauser UK, joins the Group’s Supervisory Board next year.

Changes will take place at the top of the Endress+Hauser Group at the beginning of 2024. As previously announced, Dr Klaus Endress will give up his responsibilities as president of the Supervisory Board. He is to be succeeded by CEO Matthias Altendorf. The new CEO of the Group will be Dr Peter Selders, the present head of the center of competence for level and pressure measurement technology. Steven Endress, currently managing director of Endress+Hauser UK, will become the second member of the family to sit on the Supervisory Board.

Klaus Endress (born 1948) has put his stamp on the development of Endress+Hauser for nearly 45 years. It was in 1979 that he joined the company his father founded. He then took over the management of the Group in 1995. In 2014, he handed over day-to-day operation of the company to Matthias Altendorf and became president of the Supervisory Board. Much of the company bears his signature to this day. He also focused in recent years on ensuring a smooth generational change within the shareholder family.

New management for the group of companies

Matthias Altendorf is slated to take over as president of the Supervisory Board on 1 January 2024. He will be proposed for election at the Annual General Meeting on 3 April 2023. According to Klaus Endress, the shareholders believe he is right person for this position: “He has known our company for 35 years and has led the Group with prudence and success for nearly a decade. Mr Altendorf also embodies the Endress+Hauser culture in an exemplary manner and stands for the values that distinguish our company.”

Dr Peter Selders will take over the reins as CEO. The 53-year-old executive, who holds a PhD in physics, joined Endress+Hauser in 2004 and has led the center of competence for level and pressure measurement technology based in Maulburg, Germany, since 2019. “As head of Endress+Hauser Level+Pressure, he has demonstrated that he can lead and inspire people, that he lives and breathes our culture and that he is capable of successfully growing a large organization,” says Klaus Endress.

Family remains closely linked to the company

Considerable thought and extensive discussions among the shareholders, the family and the Supervisory Board went into making these decisions. “It goes without saying that the family will continue to be closely connected with the company,” emphasizes Klaus Endress. As before, it will be represented by two members on the Supervisory Board. In addition to Sandra Genge, Steven Endress will join the board on 1 January 2024. The 44-year-old grandson of the company’s founder has worked for Endress+Hauser since 2012 and served as managing director in the UK since 2016.

Even though Klaus Endress will no longer have an active role at Endress+Hauser, he will remain chairman of the Family Council, which decides on all important issues in the relationship between the family and the company. For years, a family charter has governed the shareholders’ interaction and their relationship with the company. Established institutions and regular meetings strengthen solidarity within the family and provide a path for members of the younger generations to become involved in the company.

Further succession arrangements in place

Peter Selders will be succeeded at the top of the center of competence for level and pressure measurement technology by 49-year-old Dr Dirk Mörmann, currently director of technology and member of the board of directors. The fortunes of Endress+Hauser UK will be in the hands of Iain Cropper (51) as of 1 May 2023. As a member of the board of directors, to date he has been responsible for the sales center’s operations.