14 The German Times – Business October 2019

SHUTTERSTOCK, DPA/SVEN SIMON

Hotrods: Ferdinand Piëch and one of his proudest creations: the 1969 917

the voting shares in the BY ULRICH VIEHÖVER VW Group, which are bundled in Porsche SE. any in the business These form the vital core of feared him. Some even power in the group. Mhated him. Managers It is said that he ensured that tended to avoid him. Thousands his business legacy would remain of car aficionados revered him. in the Piëch family by putting his And almost all his competitors 14.7-percent share in Porsche SE copied him. ’s highest- into two Austrian family foun- profile car designer and busi- dations. His widow Ursula (63) ness leader Ferdinand K. Piëch is and first wife Corina have double dead. Will the business legacy he voting rights in the event of any left, now worth many billions of dispute. Piëch appointed Ursula, euros, disintegrate without him? originally a kindergarten teacher His fortune is tied in with who has already been active on and the families of supervisory boards within the Porsche and Piëch that own it. VW empire, to be its “legitimate Piëch’s heirs, four women and administrator.” 13 children (or 14, some have She is even allowed to change claimed), will in equal parts the articles of incorporation, inherit the rights to use his voting Gasoline in his veins although this is all on the condi- shares in VW AG and consider- tion that she does not remarry. able financial and real estate Before passing away, Ferdinand Piëch exhorted his heirs He also left all his voting shares assets. But did Piëch ensure while in the company, he was alive that his many heirs to keep the Porsche- intact worth €1.1 billion, to his brother would not be able to sell their Hans Michel Piëch (77), probably shares in the estate to buyers out- to ensure that just one man would side the family? lead the company on behalf of the There would certainly be Piëch family. enough interested buyers out His partner on the Porsche there in the automobile and determined mother Louise Piëch, After throwing him out of at BMW, the boss at VW – with third generation of heirs, was side is the head of that family, finance industries. But Ferdinand née Porsche, refused to let his the firm, the “outsider” did not the justification that he would that this weighty legacy obliges . Both are third Piëch would not have been the uncle’s minor financial difficulties treat his Uncle Ferry with much rather trust a man who had once the families to keep the gigantic generation. The two are already grandson of Porsche co-founder slow him down. respect. Piëch always regarded his made a mistake in his career than enterprise in their hands. So far, members of the highest supervi- and VW designer Ferdinand This fight escalated into a cousins as weaklings for having a man who had never made any all of his descendants have acted sory boards in the family empire, Porsche if he had not painstak- battle royale between the Piëchs gone to a lax Steiner school. In mistakes. But the “car king” soon in accordance with this precept. in the holding company, ingly worked out mechanisms to and the . The quarrel contrast, he, dyslexic and a reluc- saw to it that Pischetsrieder, too, For Piëch, who was obsessed with in VW AG and in countless com- protect his life’s work from specu- ended when all the clan mem- tant learner, endured a strict lost his job. , technology, it was natural that pany subsidiaries. They are the lators. He put his own stamp on bers, including Uncle Ferry, were boarding school and university. a more obedient Piëch protégé, he should occasionally just walk group’s “strong men.” his huge legacy, just as he did on forced to withdraw from the Piëch won all the many power was the next head of VW. As soon into Porsche’s inner sanctum, the These complex structures, all his creations: his unbending operations side of the business, struggles at Porsche and VW, as as the patriarch felt that Winter- development center in Weissach, typical for a perfectionist tech- last will and testament. never to return to management – he always presented a concept korn had become too autocratic, and inspect the engineers’ latest nocrat, may stop outside buyers His colleagues and relatives in quite a hefty price for trying to get and a strategy that he was able to Piëch disassociated himself from creations, even when he was a top and speculators from taking over the Porsche family experienced rid of the young Piëch. He never push through with his iron will. Winterkorn in the media, saying manager at . Porsche was also Porsche-Volkswagen bit by bit. Piëch’s dogmatic rigor and obsti- lost his love of speed, frenzy and The Porsches and representatives that he was keeping himself “at a his company, was his argument. His “legacy should not be squan- nacy first-hand in the 1960s, when high horsepower. of the state of , who distance.” But this time, Piëch lost Shareholders, however, saw this dered,” he admonished his descen- the young engineer joined the The four Porsche cousins and are also involved in running VW, the power struggle. He withdrew as “industrial espionage.” At every dants. development department of his the head of the family were now were all left out in the cold. from all his offices and retired to annual meeting, they demanded There are 36 children in the parents’ company in Stuttgart- “out.” But Piëch, the “outsider,” His personnel policy was leg- . Winterkorn was soon that he resign from the supervi- fourth generation plus four wives as an ordinary could never be stopped from endary and notable. The sce- entangled in the diesel scandal sory board as long as he was the and other Porsche great-grand- designer. This did not suit the intervening in the company and nario was always the same. First, spanning the US and . head of Audi. Piëch simply smiled children entitled to inherit some- ambitious young man at all. He taking the wheel when he thought there was an outcry from all the Until the end of his life, Ferdi- his demonic smile, ignored the thing. Altogether there are around always wanted to be first. it necessary. And this was always major shareholders at his ideas, nand Piëch regarded VW-Porsche accusations and stayed ¬– obsti- 80 great-grandchildren remaining It wasn’t long before young the case when there were major but Piëch always managed to as the Porsche and Piëch “family nate, to put it mildly. in ’s dynasty. Piëch had battled his way into decisions to be made on the car get his odd proposals accepted. farm.” Since 2009, the majority He showed the same lack of The era in which a single clan senior positions in the devel- models and top management at One example: When Porsche stake in the huge Volkswagen objectivity as the head of VW. member could bang on the table opment, marketing and sport Porsche. This car-mad man with was heading for the abyss in the Group, with its 12 brands ranging When, for example, Eastern and run the group seems to be departments. His Porsche cous- “gasoline in his veins” always got early 1990s, Piëch, to everyone’s from VW, Audi and to Europe was being opened up to ending. The group will only ins were left empty-handed and his way. Although he was usually surprise, appointed Nixdorf man- and Porsche, has belonged Volkswagen, Audi et al. and dealer remain strong if the families work resigned. in the minority position, he beat ager Arno Bohn, a stranger to the to the two clans. They also own networks were being established, together, so it’s a positive sign that It was during this time that them all in the end. industry, to the top job. When he most of the voting shares in VW. instead of preferring dealers from many of the fourth-generation the was built. Piëch, This was because he pursued realized that his decision had been The family has been involved outside the family, Piëch installed relatives have already taken on his a perfectionist obsessed with a clear strategy and time and a mistake, Piëch promptly had the in VW since 1937. Ferdinand his own car distribution com- responsibility and are filling key details, invested energy, horse- again squeezed his relatives out man fired in 1992, to the aston- Porsche, the founder of the pany, Porsche Holding Salzburg, positions in supervisory boards at power and endless amounts of by using his connections in the ishment of the relatives he had dynasty and developer of the in most countries from Hungary VW, Audi, Skoda and all the rest. money in the 12-cylinder racecar. car scene. If it seemed expedient steamrolled. VW Beetle – the car involved in to Romania. The firm went on Piëch’s bequest means that his His risky venture soon exploded to him, he would even join forces The puppet master also had Hitler’s “” to become Europe’s biggest car family will keep control over the not only the standards for race- with unionists, whom he actually a hand in the appointment of campaign – was the first and chief dealer. Piëch simply swept aside Porsche holding company, but track safety, but also the budget loathed. Bohn’s successor, Wendelin Wie- designer at the Volkswagen fac- any accusations of favoritism. He only together with his “counter of what was then still just a small The otherwise taciturn mav- deking. In 2009, however, when tory. His father, a Viennese lawyer operated and lived in a world all family,” the Porsches. racecar manufacturer in Stutt- erick also spread useful rumors the successful Porsche savior and staunch Nazi, was one of the his own. gart-Zuffenhausen. through the press to pressure became too self-confident and company’s top directors in the Now that Ferdinand Piëch is The company’s head, Piëch’s people. His “counter family,” as powerful, Piëch saw to it that new city of . gone, all efforts will be made to Ulrich Viehöver is a freelance uncle , feared for his Piëch called his Porsche relatives, Wiedeking was dumped. Volkswagen is today the preserve his legacy, which will journalist specializing in firm’s existence, but the audacious could not do much to thwart his Piëch then made Bernd Pisch- world’s number one carmaker. be shared by at least 14 people. the finance and automobile young Piëch, supported by his intrigues. etsrieder, who had utterly failed Piëch’s view, one shared by the This is especially the case with industries in Stuttgart.