Chief Financial Officer Dr. Ralf Zander is Appointed Spokesman of the Executive Board.
Creglingen. The transition at the top of the Supervisory Board had already been carefully planned: On the occasion of his 80th birthday on April 29, 2024, Udo Wirthwein wanted to hand over the chairmanship of the Supervisory Board to his son Marcus Wirthwein as of May 1, 2024. The senior member of the family business, who had developed the company from a small Creglingen-based wood and plastics manufacturer with around 100 employees into an international group with over 3,000 employees in six countries, was to become ‘Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board’. Unfortunately, due to the unexpected passing of Udo Wirthwein on April 23, 2024 the carefully planned, orderly transition could not be carried out as scheduled. The responsibility that son Marcus Wirthwein is taking on is correspondingly great - and has grown with the passing of his father: he is to head the family business and his father's life's work into the future in his position as the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board as of May 1, 2024. The post of ‘Spokesman of the Executive Board’, which Marcus Wirthwein previously held, will be taken over by Dr. Ralf Zander, who has been in charge of the family business in Creglingen since July 1, 2020 and will continue to lead the finance department.
The Wirthwein family business is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. The group of companies, which also includes Bembé Parkett in Bad Mergentheim, aims to generate annual sales of around 500 million euros in its anniversary year. Sustainability, longevity and reliability are the principles that have always guided the Wirthwein family business. In 2005, Marcus Wirthwein was appointed Managing Director of Wirthwein GmbH & Co. KG and on July 1, 2010 he was appointed as Member of the Executive Board.
The Executive Board of Wirthwein SE
Since July 1, 2020, Dr. Ralf Zander has held a responsible position as Chief Financial Officer of Wirthwein AG, which was transformed into Wirthwein SE in January 2023. The 50-year-old industrial engineer Dr. Ralf Zander will be appointed 'Spokesman of the Executive Board' as of May 1, 2024. He will retain the finance department and manage the company together with Chief Technical Officer Holm Riepenhausen and Chief Sales Officer Thomas Kraus. Wirthwein is thus maintaining continuity in the top management team.
The Supervisory Board of Wirthwein SE
With effect from May 1, 2024, Marcus Wirthwein will assume responsibility for his family's company in his new position as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. In future, the Supervisory Board will be made up as follows: Marcus Wirthwein, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Edmund Brenner, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Ingrid Wirthwein and Winfried Seitz as Members of the Supervisory Board. Marcus Wirthwein is confident that the well-coordinated Executive Board team will lead Wirthwein SE into a successful future together with the employees in the 22 subsidiaries around the world.
