Two sentences, BASF needed more space in the message from Wednesday not to announce a surprising personality. Saori Dubourg, 51, will leave the group at the end of February “on the best of terms”. Next Tuesday, less than a week from now, is her last official day at work. It reads more like this: A woman leaves a company head over heels. She is leaving early, her contract would have run until 2025, according to BASF. Dubourg’s successor Stephan Kothrade, 55, gets significantly more space in the press release.
“Saori Dubourg’s departure points to internal differences, especially since she was temporarily considered a successor candidate for Martin Brudermüller,” comments Cornelia Zimmermann, specialist for sustainability and corporate governance at the fund company Deka Investment, on the personnel: “The board of directors is not only losing diversity , rather, with her successor, Stephan Kothrade, once again a homegrown BASF will be brought to the Board of Management.” BASF consistently denies outsiders access to top management, which is incompatible with a modern corporate culture, explains Zimmermann.
Two sentences, that’s all the group had to say about the manager, and that after more than a quarter of a century of service. Dubourg has spent her entire professional life at BASF and is one of those “homegrown”. She got to know the company as an intern, and in 1996 she started in marketing after studying business administration. She was for BASF in the USA, Japan and Singapore. In the message on Wednesday, the supervisory board thanks Dubourg for her “successful work” and wishes her all the best for her professional and private future and continued success”. No personal word of thanks from the chairman of the supervisory board, Kurt Bock, not a word from the chairman of the board, Martin Brudermüller Dubourg worked with both men for a long time.
Brudermüller’s successor must approve of his China strategy – Dubourg didn’t do that
She was recently isolated on the board because she was critical of BASF’s expansion plans in China, the news agency quotes Reuters Insider. She had no chance of succeeding Brudermüller, a fervent advocate and driver of the China strategy. Despite the growing geopolitical tension, BASF is continuing to build there at the new location for ten billion euros. Dubourg was also temporarily acted as the successor to Bayer boss Werner Baumann. As is well known, nothing came of it, the new CEO of the Leverkusen group will be the former Roche manager Bill Anderson at the beginning of June.
Arne Rautenberg, fund manager at Union Investment, was also surprised by the personnel, which was not particularly appreciative given its brevity. He also sees this as a preliminary decision for the successor to Brudermüller. His contract runs until the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in 2024. “Anyone who takes over his position must fully support the investments in China, because they are crucial for BASF’s success in the years to come.” This meant that Rautenberg no longer considered Dubourg as the chief post. The successor has not yet been decided, but the circle of applicants, if he or she should come from within the company, is becoming smaller.
According to Rautenberg, there are at least two people on the committee who are behind the China strategy: Melanie Maas-Brunner and Markus Kamieth, both chemists and homegrown like Brudermüller. Maas-Brunner is now the only woman on the board, she is the technical director and also responsible for the Ludwigshafen site, which is threatened with severe cuts. Kamieth has been based in Hong Kong since 2020 and regularly sends enthusiastic posts about his experiences in China via the LinkedIn network.
And Saori Dubourg? “I’m sure that you’ll see her back in a management position sooner rather than later,” says Rautenberg.