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by Stephanie Neil, MA Editorial Staff
Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 6:10:00 PM Sign Up to receive Daily News Alerts in your E-mail Inbox    | Abstract: | Quarterly earnings from three automation giants — ABB, Rockwell Automation, and Siemens — are overshadowed by the surprise announcement that Siemens CEO Klaus Kleinfeld will resign. |
| Keywords: | Siemens, bribery scandal, Kleinfeld resigns, Siemens CEO, resignation, Pierer, Siemens Supervisory Board, quarterly results, automation vendors, ABB earnings, ABB revenue, Rockwell earnings, Rockwell revenue, Logix controllers |
In a blockbuster announcement, Siemens AG President and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld disclosed that he has decided to step down. Amid a bribery investigation dogging the Germany-based automation giant, Kleinfeld said he will not be available for contract renewal, which had been due to take place later this year. On a conference call today with analysts to discuss the company's second-quarter results, Kleinfeld said his resignation is the result of the decision by Siemens' Supervisory Board to postpone his contract renewal. The board is conducting its own investigation into bribery charges, brought by German prosecutors, that have plagued the company and mushroomed into an ever-widening probe. As a result of that scandal, Supervisory Board Chairman Heinrich v. Pierer announced last week that he would vacate his position. Both Pierer and Kleinfeld have denied any involvement in the alleged malfeasance. "I believe, in this day and age, employees, customers, as well as shareholders expect strong leadership, particularly in situations like the one Siemens is in," Kleinfeld said in his opening remarks today. "The current discussions [around] the future of Siemens cause concern internally and externally. The [new Supervisory] Chairman informed me that they have postponed a decision on my contract renewal, and I consider this lack of clarity regarding company management and my own mandate to be burdensome and unacceptable to the company and employees. For that reason, I will no longer be available for extension of my contract." [Click to continue] |
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