The former McKinsey director and state secretary in the Ministry of Defense Katrin Suder is to be elected to the supervisory board of Deutsche Post.
This emerges from the company’s invitation, which is available to the “Handelsblatt”.
But the choice is not without controversy: in the past, Suder attracted attention, among other things, because of her role in the advisor affair in the Ministry of Defense.
She was State Secretary under Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) for four years and worked for McKinsey for more than ten years, most recently as director: Katrin Suder. Now she is to be elected to the supervisory board of Deutsche Post. This emerges from an invitation from the Dax group to the general meeting on May 4th, which is available to the “Handelsblatt”.
Accordingly, Suder will use her experience to advance the areas of logistics, digitization and cyber security in the future. The announcement also mentions “international experience” and “corporate management/control”, writes the “Handelsblatt”. After the election, she would succeed Katja Windt, Managing Director of the plant manufacturer SMS. After twelve years in office, she cannot stand for re-election.
But Suder’s personality is not undisputed. According to the “Handelsblatt”, the shareholders’ association Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz (DSW) has already reported initial concerns. Suder himself has so far left a written inquiry from the newspaper unanswered.
The advisor affair happened during Suder’s time as State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence
In fact, Suder has repeatedly attracted attention in the past in connection with major headlines: During her time as State Secretary, the so-called consultant affair under the then Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) happened. It dealt with allegations of incorrect procurement and nepotism.
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At the beginning of 2020, Suder was therefore invited to a parliamentary committee of inquiry to comment. In the committee, Suder had to face the allegations that he had not complied with any applicable award criteria for contracts. Even more: She is said to have preferred personal acquaintances and companies, including the management consultancy McKinsey. She reported to the departments of equipment and cyber/information technology in the ministry.
Suder denied the allegations, declaring that she was never involved in the awards. In the end, no mistakes could be proven. However, representatives of the FDP, the Greens and the Left held in one special vote states: “She did not keep the required distance from former companions.”
Katrin Suder 2021 was already prevented as IT board member at VW
In addition: The former state secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defense Katrin Suder should also become IT director at Volkswagen. Because of her involvement in a consultant affair, Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil and the VW works council opposed her and prevented the appointment.
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As Business Insider reported in May 2021, the trigger was said to be Suder’s past. While the employee representation suffers from an allergy to consultants and Arno Antlitz, an ex-McKinseyaner, has only recently been promoted to the group’s board of directors, Weil was much more concerned about Suder’s role in the Federal Ministry of Defense’s consultant affair, according to supervisory board circles at the time. Although the Bundestag investigative committee did not prove any misconduct on the part of the then Secretary of State for Armaments, according to Weil, VW alone cannot afford Suder’s involvement in this scandal at the moment.
At the Aktionsvereinigung DWS, one cannot understand the planned appointment of Suders to the Post supervisory board: “The question arises as to why the Bonn group is burdened with personnel that was already controversial elsewhere,” said Marc Tüngler, DSW General Manager of the “Handelsblatt”.
The new supervisory board position could bring Suder an annual income of 75,000 euros
With the new position on the supervisory board at Deutsche Post, Suder could now earn 75,000 euros per year. She currently works as a Senior Consultant for PR firm FGS Global (formerly: Finsbury Glover Hering). According to the “Handelsblatt”, she also has supervisory board mandates in companies such as the listed real estate group LEG or the IT security company Cloudflare.
She lives in Hamburg with her partner Katja Kraus, ex-goalkeeper of the national team and ex-manager at the football club HSV, and their three children. According to the Xing profile, she also runs the TAE Advisory & Sparring consultancy together with Kraus, which, among other things, supports women in their promotion to management positions.
with material from the dpa