Generation change at Müller-Milch: Stefan Müller becomes chairman of the supervisory board

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In future no more chairman of the supervisory board: Ex-Kuka boss

Photo: DPA

The milk giant Müller completes the generation change. According to information from manager magazin,

(54) will take over as chairman of the supervisory board of the billion-dollar company on January 1st. Stefan Müller is the eldest son of Patriarch

(81). Manager magazin had already reported on the plan in August, as well as a prominent victim: Ex-Kuka boss

(53). A spokesman confirms the information upon request. Accordingly, Reuter will accompany Müller in the "coming months" as a simple member of the supervisory board during the induction process. According to insiders, a transition is planned until March, after which Reuter is likely to leave the group for good.

Reuter has acted as chairman of the dairy supervisory board since September 2019 and most recently even led the company as a kind of interim CEO.

He first ousted CEO

(56) and then pushed him completely out of the company.

Allegedly, Reuter receives around five million euros a year for his double job.

His balance sheet is mixed.

In 2020 the turnover of the group registered in Luxembourg rose by 4 percent to 5.9 billion euros, the operating profit tripled to 141 million euros.

The British logistics subsidiary Culina is contributing a large part of the growth; the core business is rather sluggish.

Müller slept through many trends

Müller watched trends such as the increasing demand for vegan alternatives for a long time.

The company acted just as hesitantly when selling the troubled delicatessen manufacturer Homann, which Müller had once acquired from the bread millionaire

(66).

In order to sell the salad division to the Dutch competitor Johma, Müller had to pay a dowry in the tens of millions.

Now the group is handling the remaining locations for a lot of money.

Reuter never really arrived in the dairy world.

While Patriarch Theo initially praised the business economist and lawyer in the highest tones, many managers on the second management level recently found the long-standing investment banker to be a foreign body.

Stefan Müller is considered the greatest managerial talent among the owner's nine children.

Nevertheless, the senior carried the messed up US adventure after him for a long time.

In 2015, the group terminated a joint venture with the brewing giant PepsiCo under the leadership of Stefan Müller.

After that, father and son went their separate ways.

The junior founded his own company with Colostrum Biotech.

In the meantime, Müller is one of the market leaders in the field of pre-milk.

A success that apparently convinced the patriarch.

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