Report: Daimler CFO Uebber Headed for Thyssenkrupp Chairmanship

Bodo Uebber is likely to end his 14-year-long job as chief financial officer for Daimler AG this month to become chairman of industrial giant Thyssenkrupp AG, sources tell Reuters.

Last month Daimler’s board announced that Uebber (pictured) would not seek to extend his contract. Reuters’ sources say the 59-year-old will join Thyssenkrupp’s supervisory board on Nov. 20 and then nominated as chairman. The appointment could be approved by shareholders on Feb. 1.

Current ThyssenKrupp board member Bernhard Pellens moved into the company’s chairmanship at the end of September. But under German law, the 63-year-old cannot continue as chairman beyond 2020.

Uebber has played a central role in restructuring Daimler to make it more responsive and less bureaucratic in anticipation of a future in which the company becomes a provider of an array of personal transportation vehicles and services. Uebber was passed over in September to succeed Dieter Zetsche as Daimler CEO when the company chose group research chief Ola Kaellenius as heir.

Thyssenkrupp is in the process of restructuring into two separately listed companies, one for material operations and the other for capital goods.