Ulrich Spiesshofer (born 26 March 1964), is the former

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

ABB Group ABB Ltd. is a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to create ...

, a leading power and automation technology company, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. He took up the role on 15 September 2013, succeeding Joe Hogan. Previously, Spiesshofer had headed ABB's Discrete Automation and Motion division, which includes the company's robotics, power conversion, motors and drives businesses. Spiesshofer stepped down 17 April 2019.

Early life and education

Spiesshofer was born in

Aalen Aalen () is a former Free Imperial City located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district and is its largest town. It is also the large ...

, in the southwestern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. He holds a PhD in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

as well as a master's degree in business administration and engineering from the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany wit ...

Career

From 1991 to 2002, Spiesshofer worked for

AT Kearney Kearney is a global management consulting firm with offices in more than 40 countries worldwide. Kearney has consistently earned top places among global management consulting firm rankings, such as Vault's Consulting 50 and ''Consulting'' magazine' ...

management consultants, rising to become the managing director of AT Kearney International, during which time he ran consulting businesses in industries including oil and gas, utilities, telecommunications and automotive, in Europe, Asia and the Americas. He then spent three years as a senior partner and global head of the operations practice at

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants Roland Berger (from 2001 to 2015 Roland Berger Strategy Consultants) is an international management consultancy headquartered in Munich. With 2,400 employees and 52 offices in 35 countries, it has a presence in all major industrialized and emer ...

in Switzerland. Spiesshofer joined ABB in 2005 as Executive Committee member responsible for strategy development. In 2010, he was appointed Head of Discrete Automation and Motion, one of ABB's five divisions. There, he led the acquisition of Baldor Electric, the largest maker of industrial motors in North America. It was ABB's biggest acquisition to date with a purchase price of $4.2 billion. In 2013, Spiesshofer was appointed CEO of ABB, a position he held until 2019. As CEO, he led the ABB acquisition of GE Industrial Systems, which was announced in 2017.

Other activities

European Round Table of Industrialists The European Round Table of Industrialists, abbreviated ERT, is an advocacy group in the European Union consisting of some 50 European industrial leaders working to strengthen competitiveness in Europe. The group works at both national and European ...

(ERT), Member

Personal life

Spiesshofer is an avid skier, sailor and amateur musician, accomplished at the clarinet, saxophone and accordion. He lives with his wife Natalie and two children, Nicolas and Louis, in Zurich.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiesshofer, Ulrich 1964 births German corporate directors Businesspeople in technology University of Stuttgart alumni Living people