Automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler has announced that the Supervisory Board of Schaeffler AG has appointed Dr. Klaus Patzak as a member of the Board of Managing Directors of Schaeffler AG effective August 1, 2020 at its meeting on Monday. Dr. Patzak will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with responsibility for Finance and IT, replacing Dietmar Heinrich, who will leave Schaeffler AG as agreed on July 31, 2020 to pursue new professional challenges.

Dr. Patzak (55) began his career after completing his studies and doctorate in Munich in 1993 in the Corporate Finance department at Siemens AG, where he most recently worked as Managing Partner for selected associated companies (POC), as Managing Director of Siemens Gas & Power Management GmbH and as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the new Siemens Gas and Power business. Prior to that, he was a member of the Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer of Bilfinger SE from 2016 to 2018. He held the same position at Osram Licht AG from 2011 to 2016. Between 2002 and 2011, he held various management positions in the Corporate Finance department at Siemens AG, where he was responsible for the Audit, Accounting & Reporting and Reporting & Controlling departments, among others. From 2000 to 2002, he was Commercial Director of the Wired Communications Division of Infineon AG. Prior to this, he held management positions within the central finance department at Siemens AG and worked for two years at Siemens subsidiaries in the USA. Dr. Patzak holds a doctorate in business administration and a degree in business administration and is a trained industrial clerk.

Georg F. W. Schaeffler, family shareholder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Schaeffler AG, said: "We are pleased that we have succeeded in recruiting Dr. Klaus Patzak, a very experienced and competent CFO, for Schaeffler AG. Dr. Patzak joins the Schaeffler Group at a time of great challenges. We are convinced that with his profound knowledge he will make an important contribution to successfully aligning the Schaeffler Group for the future. His extensive and long-standing experience in major international industrial and technology companies is of particular value to us."

Georg F. W. Schaeffler also thanked Dietmar Heinrich (56) and said: "Mr. Dietmar Heinrich worked for the Schaeffler Group for 25 years. During this time, he has rendered great services in important functions in Germany and abroad. I would particularly like to emphasize that he continued to work for the Schaeffler Group with above-average commitment during the Corona crisis despite his planned departure. On behalf of all members of the Supervisory Board, I would like to thank Mr. Heinrich for his many years of service and wish him - also on behalf of my mother Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann - every success in his new professional challenge and all the best in his private life."