Viessmann enters the 105th year of its family history with a new management structure

Allendorf (Eder),  Dec 13, 2021 – The Viessmann Group continues preparations for a dynamic future. Viessmann Group Co-CEO Joachim Janssen (64) is retiring after nearly 15 years on the Executive Board and six years at the top of the family business. Upon his departure, Co-CEO Maximilian Viessmann (32) will become the sole CEO, and, along with CFO Dr. Ulrich Hüllmann, will lead the Viessmann Group executive management team. One hundred and five years after Johann Viessmann established the company, the overall responsibility for the family business’s future will be fully passed onto the fourth generation.

Prof. Dr. Martin Viessmann, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said, “Joachim Janssen played a pivotal role in ensuring our family business has been smoothly handed on from the third to the fourth generation. We are very grateful to him for supporting us in this important period with his profound knowledge, pragmatism and exemplary prudence. We are now placing Viessmann’s future entirely in the hands of the fourth generation by having Maximilian as our sole CEO. I could not be any prouder because I know that no one is more capable of leading the 13000-strong Viessmann family into a successful future than Maximilian.”

Max Viessmann, CEO of the Viessmann Group, said: “ I feel privileged to have the opportunity to make a direct, measurable contribution toward providing future generations with a livable climate as the CEO of the Viessmann Group supported by a strong leadership team and the large, constantly growing Viessmann family - a family for positive change. This is reflected in our purpose of creating living spaces for generations to come, and we are deeply humbled by the importance of this responsibility. Having worked closely with my father and with Joachim, who has advised and assisted me for the past four years, I know Viessmann will continue on its successful trajectory.”

Joachim Janssen, exiting Co-CEO of the Viessmann Group, said, “It was a great honor to drive Viessmann’s strategic, digital and cultural transformation with two generations of the founding family. The company is perfectly positioned to succeed with future generations. I am also delighted to continue supporting Viessmann as a Member of the Advisory Board of the Refrigeration Solutions division.”

Joachim Janssen joined the large Viessmann family in 2007. First as the Group CFO and then CEO in 2016, before being appointed Co-CEO to Maximilian Viessmann in 2018. As a member of the leadership duo, he helped Viessmann Group focus on profitable growth, which included the realigning of the Refrigeration Solutions business area and the consolidation of the Industrial Solutions business area.

With his departure, Janssen will also be handing over the leadership of the Refrigeration Solutions business area and the Real Estate division. Responsibility for the Refrigeration Solutions business area will be passed to Viessmann CEO Max Viessmann. The Real Estate segment will be overseen by Viessmann Group CFO Dr. Ulrich Hüllmann (53). The operational leadership will remain unchanged: Frank Winters will continue to run the Refrigeration Solutions division on a day-to-day basis. Klaus Kümmel, Jörg Lenz and Kai Efing will jointly operate the Group’s Real Estate segment.

Additionally, Max Viessmann will remain CEO of the Climate Solutions business area, the largest division. Climate Solutions CSO and CMO Thomas Heim (53) will step into the newly created role of Deputy CEO alongside his current duties. He will provide strategic and operational leadership, accelerate the strong growth of recent years and represent the business area more prominently in interactions with partners, users and industry players. In addition to his role in the Executive Board for Viessmann’s Climate Solutions business area, Heim also serves on the Board of the Federation of German Heating Industry (BDH) and the Executive Council of the European Heating Industry Association (EHI).

Thomas Heim, CSO, CMO and Deputy CEO of Viessmann Climate Solutions, said, “I am extremely happy to be working alongside Max and the other Executive Board members in my new position as Deputy CEO as we take the Climate Solutions division to the next level and actively drive the decarbonization of the building sector with our partners and our Integrated Solution Offering.”

Frauke von Polier, Chief People Officer, and Dr. Markus Klausner, Chief Technology Officer, will remain integral members of the Executive Board of Climate Solutions.

These changes to responsibilities represent the next steps in Viessmann’s long-planned generational succession. One of the cornerstones was laid in July 2019, when the company established the Viessmann Family Holding structure; dividing the business into the three areas Climate Solutions, Refrigeration Solutions and Viessmann Investment along with the two diversification segments VC/O and Viessmann Real Estate; and combining the Viessmann foundations.