Markus Duesmann has no longer been CEO of Audi since the end of August 2023 – but he continues to receive payments amounting to millions from the VW Group. picture alliance / SVEN SIMON | Frank Hoermann / SVEN SIMON
Markus Duesmann was CEO of Audi and a member of the VW board before he had to leave the group in September last year. Nevertheless, the VW annual report shows that he should receive remuneration until the end of his contract in spring 2025.
And that’s not all: an agreement stipulates that Duesmann is not allowed to work for the competition for a year after the contract expires.
In return, he receives a six-figure monthly payment – around 2.2 million euros for the entire period.
Markus Duesmann had to vacate his position as head of Audi in late summer 2023. He was chairman of the board of directors at the automobile company and a member of the board of VW for a total of three years – until he had to leave without further ado. However, Duesmann’s contract runs until the end of March 2025. He therefore continues to receive remuneration, as the group’s annual report reveals.
Afterwards, he is also not allowed to work for the competition at first – because an agreement stipulates a one-year non-competition clause from that point on. For this he even receives a six-figure monthly payment, as shown in the VW annual report for 2023. In total, Duesmann received millions in money for this agreement. Business Insider took a closer look at the report, including the clause.
VW continues to pay Markus Duesmann a salary
It has not been officially confirmed why Duesmann had to leave without further ado. According to the annual report, the collaboration was “mutually terminated early with effect from the end of August 31, 2023.” In the course of this, the VW Group reached a contractual agreement with Duesmann. This stipulates, among other things, that his service contract with VW continues as planned until the end of March 2025. His contract with Audi, however, ended last summer.
Financially speaking, this agreement could pay off for the former CEO. Because Volkswagen AG “commits to continuing to pay him his salary until the end of his employment contract,” says the report. Variable salary components should therefore be paid out at the agreed time – but by no means early. A governance factor of 1.0 should be applied to his annual bonus, it goes on to say. The annual bonus is primarily made up of the Group’s sub-goals, the overall performance of the Board of Directors and the individual performance of the Board member. Since Duesmann no longer works at VW, he can no longer increase his annual bonus through his own performance.
He is not allowed to work for the competition for a year – in exchange for a monthly salary
However, the former CEO should not receive a severance payment. But he still falls soft: As soon as his service contract expires, Duesmann will not be allowed to work for the competition for a year, according to the report. However, he should receive a six-figure monthly compensation. The annual report states:
“From April 1, 2025, Mr. Duesmann will be subject to a one-year non-compete clause. For compliance with this ban, Volkswagen AG will pay him gross monthly compensation of 187,500 euros.” This means he will receive a total of 2.25 million euros by spring 2026.
In larger companies it is quite common to continue to provide sacked managers with consulting contracts. This is not new for the VW Group either, as Business Insider already reported. Last year, the company released long-time VW boss Herbert Diess from his post and hired him as a consultant.
Gernold Döllner took over his position as chief
As part of his work for Volkswagen and Audi, Duesmann has taken on further mandates in the supervisory and control bodies of group companies. In 2021, Duesmann was elected to the supervisory board of the FC Bayern Munich football club and appointed second chairman of the committee.
Duesmann’s successor as Audi CEO is Gernod Döllner. Since 2021, he has been in charge of group strategy, group product strategy and the general secretariat of Volkswagen AG. Since September last year, he has been a board member responsible for the “Progressive” brand group, which includes Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Ducati.