Professional background

As a former senior executive and board member of Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the world’s leading research driven pharmaceutical companies, I know what it means to run a company, to have responsibility for large organizations, and to balance the needs of multiple stakeholders.

For more than 20 years I have held senior executive roles in both publicly traded companies such as Eon Group of Companies and General Electric as well as family-owned businesses. My work and life experience spans from Germany to the Nordics, from France to the USA.

I have always embraced and enjoyed working in global environments with global teams. I have a true passion for innovation, life sciences, and people. With the Executive Resonance Room my desire has become reality: to share – from executive to executive – my business and people experience, empowering others to connect company purpose, business strategy and people agenda. 

I am a German qualified lawyer by education and hold a J.D. from the University of Munich. I am based in the Rheingau Valley, close to Frankfurt/Main, Germany and Massa Marittima, Italy.

Personal life

I have been married for more than 30 years to my wife Rike, who is an artist. We became parents to a daughter when we both were still at university in Munich, Germany (me) and Florence, Italy (her), allowing us to commute between the two countries. A few years ago, the two of us discovered a real passion for Argentinian Tango, a dance that builds a bridge between tradition and modernity.

There are a number of things which I take from the dance floor to the boardroom: the power of trust, the power of connection, the power of focus.

I have spent more than ten years living abroad in Europe and North America. However, nothing has had a bigger impact on me than the one year at the age of sixteen when I attended the Friends School in Baltimore, Maryland and where I learned:

the passion for inquiry, the importance of listening, the openness to diverse perspectives. Friends School is a magical place which clearly shaped who I am today.