Wolfgang Porsche turns 65
07/05/08 07:36 Filed in:News
Wolfgang Porsche turns 65
--Shareholder, Member of the Supervisory Board, Family Spokesman
and Entrepreneur--
Stuttgart, Germany -- May 6 -- Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, Shareholder and Chairman of the
Supervisory Board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE, as well as Dr. Ing. h.c. F.
Porsche AG, is celebrating his 65th birthday on May 10, 2008. Ferdinand (‘Ferry’)
Porsche’s youngest son, who was born in Stuttgart, has been a member of the
Supervisory Board of the sports car manufacturer since 1978. He has also been family
spokesman since the death of his father Ferry in 1998.
Wolfgang Porsche has always seen it as his primary duty to continue to drive forward the
company in the same spirit that his father Ferry and grandfather Ferdinand intended when
they founded and built up the firm, in close collaboration with the members of the Porsche
and Piëch families. As a result of this fundamental stance, he contributed significantly to the
increase in capital that occurred in 1992 to ensure the continued independence of the family-
owned company, and has also influenced all further important business decisions. This
particularly includes decisions relating to the expansion of the product portfolio to include
the Roadster Boxster, the Cayenne sports utility vehicle, and the four-seater Gran Turismo
Panamera, as well as the building of the Leipzig plant, and last but not least, the stake of
Porsche AG in the Volkswagen Group in 2005.
As Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, CEO of Porsche SE, notes: “Throughout the past 16 years,
Wolfgang Porsche has tirelessly supported us as an approachable and competent advisor,
both on everyday questions as well as on the various strategic decisions we have faced to
position the company in the best way. This advice has always been open and
frank, and he has served as an essential bridge between company and shareholders. In all
decisions, the Porsche Managing Board could always count on his integrity and his support,
and for this we are extremely thankful”.
Wolfgang Porsche was born on May 10, 1943, the youngest son of Dorothea and Ferry
Porsche, the founder of the sports car icon. He spent the first 6 ½ years of his life at the so
called ‘Schüttgut’ in Zell am See, Austria, to which his parents and grandparents had
retreated during the final years of the war. The family returned to Stuttgart in 1950. At first,
Wolfgang went to the Waldorf School in Stuttgart, before moving over to the Odenwald
School in Heppenheim. It was here that he obtained his Abitur (higher school-leaving
certificate) in 1965, and at the same time abandoned his training as an apprentice locksmith.
Following this, he obtained his degree in Business Administration from the Vienna University
of Economics and Business Administration. He received his doctorate in International
Business in 1973.
After completing his studies, Wolfgang Porsche went into business, and became an importer
for Yamaha motorbikes in Austria, a trade that he pursued successfully for 27 years. He
returned to Stuttgart in 1976, and worked at the then Daimler-Benz AG as a manager in
several different areas of domestic and foreign sales. In 1978 he was appointed a member
of the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG, taking over the position of Chairman in January
2007. He was also appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche Automobil
Holding SE at its incorporation in June 2007. In addition, he has been a member of the
Supervisory Board of Porsche Holding Ges.m.b.H. in Salzburg, the largest Austrian trading
company, since 1983. Furthermore, he is Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Swiss
watch manufacturer Eterna S.A. in Grenchen, and, since April 24, 2008, a member of the
Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg.
On the death of his father Ferry in 1998, he was selected as spokesman by the Porsche
family. As such, Wolfgang Porsche considers his main role to be that of an intermediary and
consensus-builder between the individual family members to ensure that the shared goal of
the independence and financial stability of the Porsche company is never compromised. His
calm, objective style, as well as his wit and humor, are his chief assets. In this regard,
Wolfgang Porsche has even described himself as a ‘Swabian Austrian’, for whom level-
headedness, reliability and tradition are all important. The father-of-four lives alternately in
Munich, Stuttgart, and at the paternal ‘Schüttgut’ in Zell am See, which he has inherited. A
keen hunter, he has always maintained his special affinity with the sports car icon that is still
‘made in Zuffenhausen’, both to its past and its present.
Wolfgang Porsche has received numerous honors for his services to business. In 2005 he
was awarded the ‘Great Golden Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria’ by the Prime
Minister of Austria, the highest award granted by the country of his birth.
Porsche Cars North America, Inc., based in Atlanta, Ga., and, Porsche Cars Canada, Ltd.,
based in Mississauga, Ont., are the two importers of Porsche sports cars and Cayenne sport
utility vehicles for the United States and Canada respectively. Each is a wholly owned,
indirect subsidiary of Dr. Ing.h.c. F. Porsche AG. Combined, these two subsidiaries employ
approximately 250 people who provide Porsche vehicles, parts, service, marketing and
training for 200 U.S. and 12 Canadian dealers. They, in turn, provide Porsche owners with
best-in-class service.
