Dr Wolfgang Büchele, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Linde AG, will not continue in his position following the expiration of his current employment contract in April 2017.
‘My decisions at the top of our company have always been guided by the credo to further develop Linde as a successful, competitive, and strong global company,’ said Dr Büchele. ‘In my professional career, I have always measured myself according to my ability to attain the objectives I set for myself. Based on that, I was personally disappointed that I could not reach the goal of creating the number one globally. This has not been an easy decision.’
The supervisory board of Linde AG said that it accepted Dr Büchele's decision with deep regret and has asked him to continue to serve in his position until his contract expires and to assume the additional position of labor director.
‘I would like to underscore personally that Dr Büchele and I have always worked together with the highest degree of openness, trust and loyalty,’ said the chairman of the supervisory board, Professor Dr Wolfgang Reitzle. ‘Dr Büchele has led the discussions regarding a potential merger with Praxair with a great sense of responsibility and has come to the conclusion that, despite all of the potential benefits, the interests of Linde's German presence and of a balanced merger would not have been secured. Linde will now redouble its focus on its core markets and expand the company's competitive position based on its considerable inherent strengths.’
This story uses material from Linde, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.