Dr. Gerhard Cromme turns 70

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Dr. Gerhard Cromme, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ThyssenKrupp AG, will be 70 on February 25, 2013. Cromme, who studied law and economics in Germany, Switzerland and France and gained a doctorate in law, is one of the most influential personalities in the German business world.

Cromme started his career with the French group Compagnie de Saint-Gobain. In 1986 he moved to the Krupp Group, where he was appointed CEO of the Group holding company in 1989. In the years that followed he shaped the German steel industry like no other. The mergers of Krupp and first Hoesch in 1992 and then Thyssen in 1999 were the results of his forward-looking initiatives. They led to the necessary reorganization of the steel industry in the Ruhr and the associated closure of the Duisburg-Rheinhausen site. Cromme was Executive Board Chairman of ThyssenKrupp AG until 2001. In October 2001 he became Chairman of the company's Supervisory Board.

Dr. Cromme, who plays a central role among the decision-makers of government and industry, carried out important work for Germany's standing as a financial center during his term as Chairman of the Government Commission on the German Corporate Governance Code from 2001 to 2008. Recognized not only as a bridge-builder between Germany and France but also as a "business diplomat", he is a valued advisor to government at German and European level - for example as a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists, an association of the chairmen and CEOs of Europe's top 45 industrial groups, which he chaired from 2001 until 2005. He was also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) from 2003 to 2007.

Since 2007 Dr. Cromme has chaired the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG alongside that of ThyssenKrupp. In addition, he is a member of the supervisory boards of Axel Springer AG and Compagnie de Saint-Gobain. In the past he has held supervisory board seats at Allianz SE, E.ON AG, Lufthansa AG, BNP Paribas, Suez S. A., Volkswagen AG, ABB Ltd., and Thales S.A.

Dr. Cromme is also Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation. The Foundation is the largest shareholder of ThyssenKrupp AG, with a 25.3 percent interest.

Cromme holds the "Großes Verdienstkreuz des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland" (Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany). In recognition of his contribution to Franco-German relations, he was appointed Commandeur de la Légion d´Honneur (Commander of the Legion of Honor) by the President of France in 2002.

Cromme is married and has four adult daughters. He is spending his birthday abroad with his family.

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