The Karlsruhe energy group EnBW is surprisingly replacing its CEO. Andreas Schell, who only took office in November 2022, is resigning with immediate effect, the energy supplier announced on Friday. The Supervisory Board approved this decision at an extraordinary meeting.
EnBW cited conflicts between the supervisory board and Schell over the future direction of the group as the reason. “Despite intensive discussions in recent months, no agreement could be reached on the company’s further strategic direction,” said Supervisory Board Chairman Lutz Feldmann. Schell’s contract would actually have run until November 2025. The former boss of the engine specialist Rolls-Royce Power Systems never fully gained a foothold at EnBW. He had difficulty presenting a convincing and concrete plan for the future to the supervisory board and major shareholders.
He will be succeeded by Georg Stamatelopoulos, who has been responsible for sustainable generation infrastructure on the board since 2021. EnBW is an important player in the energy transition, said the new CEO, from electricity to heat to mobility. “We need to maintain the right pace, take the right actions and invest in the right projects in all of these areas.” Stamatelopoulos, who has been with the company since 2010, has “extremely successfully pushed forward the energy transition in the group in recent years,” said Supervisory Board Chairman Feldmann, adding that the conversion “significantly bears his signature.” The native Greek has been appointed CEO until 2029.
The new CEO: Georg Stamatelopoulos.
(Photo: Bernd Weißbrod/dpa)
Apparently there is a major dispute in the management team about how the restructuring of the group should be managed. A week ago, the company also surprisingly replaced its head of strategy. Regina Wilde came from the chemical company BASF and replaced Stefan Webers. The outgoing CEO Andreas Schell gave Webers the usual farewell words. We would like to thank him for his important work and wish him all the best for the future.
Now Andreas Schell has to go himself. Just a week later, supervisory board chairman Lutz Feldmann addressed similar farewell words to him.