The logo of the tour operator FTI-Touristik at the Munich location. The travel group recently made headlines. picture alliance / dpa | René Ruprecht
There is a change in management at the FTI Group: Ralph Schiller changes from the top position of the travel group to the supervisory board. The new CEO comes from the company’s own management.
The supervisory board of the third largest tour operator in Europe is also new. With Wolfgang Altmüller, the previous chairman is leaving the supervisory body.
FTI experiences a turbulent year. Business Insider revealed in January that FTI boss Schiller has a criminal record, and a takeover by DER Touristik was apparently also in the air. Recently, a data affair about FTI occupied the tourism industry.
In the middle of the summer season, the FTI Group is repositioning itself. Ralph Schiller changes from the top position of the travel group to the supervisory board. From July, Karl Markgraf will take over the duties of the previous CEO, as the company announced this Friday.
Markgraf comes from his own management, he was and remains Chief Information Officer (CIO). After a turbulent half-year, the change in management could provide some relief for Europe’s third-largest tour operator.
Business Insider revealed in January that Schiller has a criminal record for fraud. In 2020, he accepted a penalty order from the Munich district court, as did company founder Dietmar Gunz and another FTI manager. However, according to the FTI, Schiller should not have admitted any guilt. Reports about a possible takeover of FTI by the Rewe subsidiary DER Touristik also caused concern.
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Head of travel group FTI has a criminal record: fraud affair bursts in takeover negotiations with Rewe
Data affair about FTI concerns the travel industry
Last made the “Handelsblatt“ Publicly that the travel cooperation RTK is said to have passed on sales figures from travel agencies and competitors to the FTI Group for years. The data affair has been occupying the travel industry for months now. The demand for personal consequences was repeatedly raised.
Schiller is now handing over operational business to take over the deputy chairmanship of the supervisory board. Naguib S. Sawiris, son of the Egyptian billionaire Samih Sawiris, who took over the majority at FTI in 2020, will head the supervisory body. Observers take this as a signal that the Sawiris family could become more involved with FTI again.
In return, Wolfgang Altmüller, the previous chairman of the supervisory board, is leaving the board. A personality that should be carefully registered in view of the data affair in the industry. Because Altmüller is CEO of the Volksbank Raiffeisenbank in Rosenheim, which is a shareholder behind RTK.