E. Merck KG Announces Results of Board Election
E. Merck KG, the entity holding approximately 70 percent of Merck KGaA on behalf of the Merck family, revealed the outcomes of its routine board elections held over the weekend.
Johannes Baillou (58) secured the position of Chairman of the Family Board, responsible for representing the entrepreneurial interests of the Merck family. Baillou boasts three decades of board experience at E. Merck KG. Initially elected to the Family Board in 1994, he progressed to Vice Chairman of the Board of Partners in 2009 and assumed the role of Chairman in 2014. During the same year, he was elected Vice Chairman of the Family Board and the Executive Board of E. Merck KG.
Johannes Baillou succeeds Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp (75), who has worked alongside him for a decade and has reached the mandatory retirement age. Dr. Stangenberg-Haverkamp had been serving as Chairman of the Family Board and Executive Board of E. Merck KG since 2014.
Professor Dr. Simon Thelen (44) was elected Vice Chairman of the Family Board and Board of Partners of E. Merck KG. He joined the Board of Partners in 2019 and assumed the role of Vice Chairman in 2021. Thelen, a specialist in hand surgery and an adjunct professor of medicine, is part of the new generation shaping the future of Merck.
Johannes Baillou expressed gratitude for Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp’s four decades of service and leadership. Baillou also welcomed Professor Dr. Simon Thelen, highlighting the family’s commitment to shaping the company’s future through successive generations.
Alongside Chairman Johannes Baillou, the family elected 11 additional representatives to the Family Board. The Family Board subsequently elected nine members to the Board of Partners of E. Merck KG, a body comparable to the supervisory board of a German stock corporation (Aktiengesellschaft), consisting of both family and non-family members.
Dr. Wolfgang Büchele (64) was elected Chairman of the Board of Partners, bringing substantial industrial and entrepreneurial experience. Dr. Büchele, an external and independent advisor to Merck for the past 15 years, will resign as Chairman and member of the Supervisory Board of Merck KGaA before this year’s Annual General Meeting, with the Supervisory Board promptly electing a new Chair.
