Ferdinand Piech Offloads VW Shares, Leaves Volkswagen Board
Ferdinand Piech, former chairman of the supervisory board of Volkswagen Group, has offloaded his 14.7 percent stake in Porsche AG.
According to Automotive News Europe, Piech, the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, has completed the transfer of his stake in Porsche to other Piech and Porsche family members. His shares in the German manufacturer are thought to be worth around 1 billion euros.
“Hon.-Prof. Dr. techn. h.c. Ferdinand K. Piëch, as part of the completion of the aforementioned assignments today, has resigned from his office as member of the Supervisory Board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE with effect as of 8 December 2017,” the automaker said in a statement.
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Piech, 80, resigned from his role at VW Group in 2015 after a falling out with VW’s then-CEO, Martin Winterkorn. As relations with his family eroded, including with that of fellow VW boss Wolfgang Porsche, Piech decided to sell his stake in the automaker to his now rival family members.
As AN Europe reports, Piech’s departure could pave the way for the younger generations of the Piech and Porsche clans to move into managerial and other high-up positions within the company. Piech’s nephew, Josef Ahorner, who is currently a member of the board of Audi AG, is seen as a potential replacement for Piech on the VW Group board.
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Sam McEachern holds a diploma in journalism from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and has been covering the automotive industry for over 5 years. He conducts reviews and writes AutoGuide's news content. He's a die-hard motorsports fan with a passion for performance cars of all sorts.
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Now just speaking hypothetically here; Would a merger of VAG with; say FCA require a distancing of VW from Piech?