Biz People: Schrempp played 'unequalled' role

Juergen Schrempp (right), architect of the $36 billion takeover of Chrysler Corp by Daimler-Benz AG, may have few equals in German business.

The company he created lost $12.6 billion in market value in the nine years following the merger.

Shares in the Stuttgart, Germany-based company have fallen 15 percent since November 17, 1998, the day the combined company started trading.

The stock in Germany peaked half a year after the merger and never recovered.

Competitor BMW AG's value more than doubled in the last nine years.

"Schrempp was certainly the biggest destroyer of capital in Daimler's history and most likely in the history of corporate Germany," said Juergen Graesslin, head of the DaimlerChrysler Critical Shareholders Association and an author of a biography on Schrempp, who left as chief executive officer on December 31, 2005, two years before his contract expired.

DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche announced the sale of Chrysler on Monday to private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LLC, ending Schrempp's plan to create a global auto empire by bringing together Mercedes sedans with Dodge trucks.

The former CEO, who hold a number of directorships in firms such as South African energy firm Sasol and telecom giant Vodafone, could not be reached for comment.

(China Daily 05/16/2007 page15)