Studied physics, philosophy & macroeconomics at Bonn university & graduated with a Doctorate in physics. He spent his initial years at McKinsey & Company. After founding (& having sold) two own businesses, he served in several functions at Bayer AG & Danaher Corp. He joined ThyssenKrupp in 2011 & is on corporate level for IP & Services as well as head of management board of ThyssenKrupp IP GmbH. He is 52 & father of three sons.