Ulrich Spiesshofer

Ulrich Spiesshofer (born 26 March 1964), is the former chief executive officer of the ABB Group, a leading power and automation technology company, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. He took up the role on 15 September 2013, succeeding Joe Hogan. Previously, Spiesshofer had headed ABB's Discrete Automation and Motion division, which includes the company's robotics, power conversion, motors and drives businesses.^[3] Spiesshofer stepped down 17 April 2019.^[4]

Ulrich Spiesshofer
Spiesshofer speaks at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin in 2017
Born	(1964-03-26) 26 March 1964 (age 60) Aalen, Germany
Nationality	German, Swiss[1]
Education	University of Stuttgart (MBA, PhD)[2]
Children	2

Early life and education

Spiesshofer was born in Aalen, in the southwestern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. He holds a PhD in economics as well as a master's degree in business administration and engineering from the University of Stuttgart.

Career

From 1991 to 2002, Spiesshofer worked for AT Kearney management consultants, rising to become the managing director of AT Kearney International, during which time he ran consulting businesses in industries including oil and gas, utilities, telecommunications and automotive, in Europe, Asia and the Americas. He then spent three years as a senior partner and global head of the operations practice at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in Switzerland.^[5]

Spiesshofer joined ABB in 2005 as Executive Committee member responsible for strategy development. In 2010, he was appointed Head of Discrete Automation and Motion, one of ABB's five divisions. There, he led the acquisition of Baldor Electric, the largest maker of industrial motors in North America. It was ABB's biggest acquisition to date with a purchase price of $4.2 billion.^[6] In 2013, Spiesshofer was appointed CEO of ABB, a position he held until 2019.

As CEO, he led the ABB acquisition of GE Industrial Systems, which was announced in 2017.^[7]

Other activities

• European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT), Member^[8]

Personal life

Spiesshofer is an avid skier, sailor and amateur musician, accomplished at the clarinet, saxophone and accordion.^[9] He lives with his wife Natalie and two children, Nicolas and Louis, in Zurich.

References

1. "Schneider-Ammann überreicht ABB-Chef den Schweizer Pass". Tages-Anzeiger.
2. "Wayback Machine has not archived that URL" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-04-06.
3. Forbes profile
4. https://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/abb-chef-ulrich-spiesshofer-tritt-zurueck-ld.1475890
5. "Ulrich Spiesshofer profile" (PDF). abb.com.
6. "Spiesshofer Draws on Student Career Studies for ABB Job". Bloomberg.com. 26 June 2013.
7. Bray, Chad (25 September 2017). "Swiss Firm ABB to Buy G.E.'s Industrial Solutions Business for $2.6 Billion". The New York Times.
8. Members European Round Table of Industrialists.
9. "ABB boss talks up musical talents of company's YuMi collaborative robot". Robotics & Automation News. 2018-03-09. Retrieved 2020-11-25.