Rupert Stadler (born 17 March 1963) is a German businessman and former chairman of the

Vorstand In German corporate governance, a ''Vorstand'' is the executive board of a corporation (public limited company). It is hierarchically subordinate to the supervisory board (''Aufsichtsrat''), as German company law imposes a two-tier board of direc ...

(CEO) of

Audi AG Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The o ...

. He was arrested in June 2018 in connection with the

Volkswagen emissions scandal The Volkswagen emissions scandal, sometimes known as Dieselgate or Emissionsgate, began in September 2015, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to German automaker Vol ...

. He was in custody in Germany until being released at the end of October 2018. In July 2019, Stadler was charged with fraud by prosecutors in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Early life

Stadler was born in Wachenzell in the Eichstätt district of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, Germany. He studied business management at

Augsburg University of Applied Sciences Augsburg University of Applied Sciences (german: Hochschule Augsburg – University of Applied Sciences or simply ''Hochschule Augsburg'') is a German university located in Augsburg. It was founded in 1971, but its institutional roots as an art ...

, majoring in corporate planning/controllership and finance, banking and investment.

Career

After graduating, he started his career at Philips Kommunikation Industrie AG in Nuremberg. Stadler joined Audi AG in 1990, assuming roles in sales and marketing. He became Commercial Director of Volkswagen/Audi España SA in 1994. From 1997 on, Stadler ran the office of the board of management of the Volkswagen Group. In January 2002, Stadler also became Head of Group Product Planning. He served as acting chairman of the board of Audi AG and its head of finance and organization until July 2007. He also served as the chairman of Automobili Lamborghini Holding SpA and Volkswagen Group Italia SpA. Stadler served as vice-chairman of the supervisory board at German football club FC Bayern AG until December 2018, when he was replaced by

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

CEO

Herbert Diess Herbert Diess (born 24 October 1958) is an Austrian businessman, the current chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen Group, as well as the chairman of the board of management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand. Career BMW In ...

. Stadler has been the chairman of the board and chief executive officer (CEO) of Audi AG since 1 January 2010, and served as its chief financial officer (CFO) since 12 January 2007. Stadler has been a member of the supervisory board at MAN SE (alternate name Man AG) since 10 May 2007 and served as a Member of the supervisory board of Volkswagen Bank GmbH, and Volkswagen Financial Services AG. He has served as a member of the economic advisory council of Bayerische Landesbank since 1 December 2005.

Dieselgate and arrest

Ever since Volkswagen admitted to use cheating software in November 2015, Stadler was under fire. In June 2015, Munich prosecutors named Stadler as a suspect in the widening

Dieselgate The Volkswagen emissions scandal, sometimes known as Dieselgate or Emissionsgate, began in September 2015, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to German automaker Vol ...

scandal. A week later, Stadler was arrested and held in a prison in Augsburg. Prosecutors claimed he was tampering with evidence because of a phone call in which he suggested putting a witness on leave. Volkswagen initially suspended Stadler as CEO after the arrest, and on 2 October 2018, the company terminated all contracts with Stadler. Four weeks later, Stadler was released from custody against bail and under other conditions. Prosecutors continued naming him as a suspect.

Trial

On 30 September 2020, Stadler begun to stand trial in a

court on charges of fraud, and knowingly selling cars that did not comply with environmental standards. The trial is expected to take until 2022. Stadler now calls himself a freelance consultant.

Personal life

Stadler lives in

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bav ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stadler, Rupert 1963 births Living people Chief executives in the automobile industry Audi people FC Bayern Munich board members Chief financial officers