Wife of VW paterfamilias Pi"ech up for Audi supervisory board
Thu, 11 Apr 2013
In a move seen as yet another way for the controlling Piech-Porsche family to leverage its muscle over the continent's biggest automaker, Ursula Piech – wife of chairman Ferdinand Piech – is set to join the Audi supervisory board at the annual shareholder's meeting on May 16. Putting Piech's wife, a 56-year-old kindergarten teacher, on the board is seen as just a formality as the Piech and Porsche families already control more than 90 percent of the Porsche SE holding company (owner of a majority of Volkswagen common stock).
Although formally trained to educate young children, this isn't Ursula Piech's first corporate role. In 2010, Piech chose his wife to be deputy head of two Austria-based foundations that control owned stakes in Porsche and VW. She took a seat on the board of Wolfsburg-based VW almost a year ago.
Chairman Piech will turn 76 next week, and his wife is set to take over her husband's interests when he dies.
By Michael Harley