Martin Winterkorn

Martin Winterkorn (born 24 May 1947) is a German former business executive who served as chairman of the board of management (CEO, Vorstandsvorsitzender in German) of Volkswagen AG, the parent company of the Volkswagen Group, as well as chairman of the supervisory board of Audi, and chairman of the board of management of Porsche Automobil Holding SE. He succeeded Bernd Pischetsrieder as CEO of Volkswagen AG in 2007. Prior to that, he had been chairman of the board of management at the Volkswagen Group subsidiary Audi AG.

Winterkorn resigned from Volkswagen on 23 September 2015 after the Volkswagen emissions scandal came to light. He resigned as chairman of Audi on 11 November 2015, following the disclosure of further information regarding VW's gasoline-powered engines in connection to the scandal. Winterkorn also served on the board of supervisors for German football club Bayern München from 22 February 2003 until 18 December 2018. He is credited with fostering a successful partnership between Audi and Bayern.

Winterkorn was criminally indicted in the United States on 3 May 2018 on charges of fraud and conspiracy related to the emissions cheating scandal. In April 2019, he was also criminally indicted on charges of fraud in Germany. He remains a fugitive in the United States and is wanted by the Environmental Protection Agency on charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act, and multiple counts of wire fraud. In February 2024, Winterkorn appeared in a German court to testify, where he denied any wrongdoing. His criminal trial in Germany is expected to begin in 2025 after being repeatedly postponed due to Winterkorn’s reported poor health.

Winterkorn studied metallurgy and metal physics at the University of Stuttgart from 1966 to 1973. From 1973 to 1977 he was a PhD student at the Max-Planck-Institute for Metal Research and Metal Physics, where he received his doctorate in 1977. He played football as a goalkeeper.

Winterkorn embarked on his career in 1977, as a specialist assistant in the research division "Process Engineering" at Robert Bosch GmbH. From 1978 to 1981, he headed the refrigerant compressor development group "Substances and Processes" at Robert Bosch and Bosch-Siemens-Hausgeräte GmbH.

In 1993 Winterkorn became head of Group Quality Assurance at Volkswagen AG, and was appointed General Manager of Volkswagen AG with power of attorney in March 1994. He was additionally responsible for the VW Group Product Management from June 1995. In January 1996, Winterkorn took over from Herbert Schuster as Member of the Brand Board of Management for "Technical Development" for the Volkswagen brand. From July 2000, he was Member of the VW Group Board of Management for Technical Development. Winterkorn was instrumental in getting Volkswagen CEO Ferdinand Piëch to approve the production of the New Beetle.

Winterkorn had been chairman of the board of management of Audi AG since 1 March 2002. He headed the Audi brand group, including the brands SEAT and Lamborghini, which was formed on 1 January 2002. Winterkorn also assumed responsibility for Technical Development at Audi AG with effect from 1 January 2003. In his capacity as CEO of the Board of Management of Audi AG, Winterkorn was also Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG.

He succeeded Bernd Pischetsrieder as CEO of Volkswagen AG on 1 January 2007, and by 2014 he was the highest paid CEO of all companies listed on Germany's blue-chip DAX stock market.