05/12/2024 | Press release

In today’s meeting, the supervisory board of Rheinmetall AG decided to nominate Prof Dr Sabina Jeschke and Federal Minister (ret.) Sigmar Gabriel as new members of the supervisory body. Additionally, the mandates of Prof Dr Andreas Georgi, Marc Tüngler and Ulrich Grillo are to be prolonged. The corresponding nominations will be published together with the invitation to the Annual General Meeting in 2025.

After years of successful involvement, Prof Dr Susanne Hannemann and Klaus-Günter Vennemann will resign from Rheinmetall’s supervisory board at the end of the shareholders' meeting on 13 May 2025. The capital side continues to be represented by Saori Dubourg, Dr Eng Klaus Draeger, as well as Louise Öfverström, with Ulrich Grillo acting as the chair.
 

Ulrich Grillo, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Rheinmetall AG: “We are delighted about this significant strengthening of the supervisory board. We have been able to win two prominent personalities for Rheinmetall, bringing outstanding knowledge and experience in their respective fields to the table and whose words are highly important. We will profit from Ms Prof Dr Jeschke und former Federal Minister Mr Gabriel, both professional and personal. Sabina Jeschke offers unbeatable business and technical expertise that will help us to advance on the path of digitalisation and the use of AI technology. In a rapidly changing world, Sigmar Gabriels’s expertise in geopolitics is of particular value to us. As a keen analyst, he will open new perspectives for us and, with his international reputation, be of support at home and abroad”.

Ulrich Grillo: “The decision of these two outstanding personalities in favour of Rheinmetall once again highlights how much the corporation's role has changed – towards that of a major technology company that has become an indispensable pillar of national and international security. Through their appointment, we are supporting Rheinmetall’s strategic goal in acting as a driver of technology and innovation for industrial development in both, military and civilian markets”.
 

Former Federal Minister Sigmar Gabriel: “My membership of the supervisory board of Rheinmetall should be understood as a contribution to dealing with the necessity of a strong and efficient defence industry in Germany and Europe in an offensive way. Our children and grandchildren will only be able to grow up in a peaceful Europe if war does not make a comeback as a political tool. Military strength is not the only prerequisite for this, but it is an essential one. The Bundeswehr must regain defensive capabilities and thus, be fit for wartime requirements. Also, the European pillar of NATO needs to strengthen its deterrence potentials. There are certainly many prerequisites for this, but a strong national and European champion like Rheinmetall is also needed. Amid this, I believe I can bring a range of skills to the Supervisory Board of Rheinmetall from my time in politics, while also showing quite openly how necessary military defence is to secure peace in Europe, and prevent possible military aggression against our country and its allies”.
 

Prof Dr Sabina Jeschke: “Artificial intelligence, complex cyber-physical systems and high-performance computing are indispensable elements for security and technological sovereignty – both of which are more important today than ever before. Rheinmetall’s responsibility lies not only in providing sophisticated defence technologies, but also in further developing technological foundations that can make our society safer and more resilient. For me, and having this in mind, it is important to clearly and responsibly emphasise the main aspects of Rheinmetall’s future direction, taking the tensions between innovation and security into account”.

Sabina Jeschke is a manager, founder and renowned scientist. The graduate physicist specialised in artificial intelligence, data analysis, cyber-physical systems, robotics, automation technology and human-machine interaction, network technologies and high-performance computing/quantum computing. From 2009 to 2017, she was a full professor of mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen University and was responsible for ‘Digitalisation and Technology’ on the executive board of Deutsche Bahn from 2017 to 2021. She is co-founder of several tech start-ups and was a member of the supervisory board of Vitesco, the specialist for drive technologies, from 2021 to 2024. In addition, Sabina Jeschke holds an honorary professorship at the TU Berlin. Since October 2024, she has been a member of the advisory board of DPE (Deutsche Private Equity).
 

Sigmar Gabriel is a former federal politician, convinced trans-Atlanticist, a recognised publicist and economic expert. He joined the SPD in 1977 and served as the federal chairman of Germany's oldest political party from 2009 to 2017. He has held many other prominent positions throughout his political career. He served as the Prime Minister of the German State of Lower-Saxony from 1999 to 2003 before moving into federal politics. He was appointed Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (2005 to 2009) and held the office of Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy from 2013 to 2017, before being appointed Foreign Minister, heading the Federal Foreign Office (until 2018). Between 2013 and 2018, he was Vice-Chancellor in the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel. At the end of 2019, he left the German Bundestag after 14 years of membership.

Since June 2019, Sigmar Gabriel has been the chairman of the Atlantik-Brücke and is also a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Since 2020, he has been a member of the supervisory boards of Deutsche Bank and Siemens Energy.