Porsche – the boss goes

The shenanigans at Porsche rumble on, and now Porsche boss Wendelin Wiedeking has announced he is leaving Porsche with immediate effect. So why do we care if another suit bites the dust?

Well, Wendelin Wiedeking is not just any old suit, but the man credited with taking Porsche from an ailing, one-model car maker to the cash-cow it became. But Wendelin has become a victim of his own success – and the current economic woes.

At any other time in the last decade, Wendelin’s plans to swallow VW would have worked. But despite the audacious share-buying spree Porsche undertook to get a controlling stake in VW, the plan has failed. Quite simply, the VW shares they bought are – because of the economy and the infighting between Porsche and VW – not really a tradeable commodity. So Porsche are burdened with a massive debt for the funds they used to engineer the share buy, and no clear way to survive.

So Wendelin’s departure leaves the door open for a sensible rapprochement between the warring family factions that control Porsche and VW. Posrche has announced it is seeking an additional €5 billion capital for the business, but no word on whether that will come for Qatar, VW, the bank…

But what of Wendelin Wiedeking? Well, you don’t need to feel too sorry for him. He’s enjoyed some of the biggest pay-packets in Europe in his time with Porsche, and he’s walking away with €50 million, so he won’t be on the bread-line. But he’s only 56 and has as impressive a track record as anyone in the industry, so he’ll get plenty of offers.

It’s also worth noting that Wendelin Wiedeking is donating half his golden goodbye to charity. He can afford it, but it’s magnanimous, none the less.