Claus Vogt had to vacate his top position on the supervisory board of VfB Stuttgart on Tuesday. The investors Porsche and Mercedes-Benz wanted a change in leadership. picture alliance/dpa | David Inderlied/Getty Images / PhotographyLink
VfB Stuttgart is having its best season in the Bundesliga for years. The Swabians have settled into third place in the table and can dream of the Champions League. But behind the scenes of the traditional club, a power struggle has been raging for weeks, which has noticeably dampened the euphoria. The focus is on Claus Vogt, controversial VfB president and head of the supervisory board of the stock corporation to which the club once outsourced its professional department. Porsche pushed for a change in leadership on the supervisory board. This Tuesday it happened.
The sports car manufacturer only joined VfB-AG as a new investor last January – like Mercedes-Benz before it. Porsche CFO Lutz Meschke is said to have flirted with the top job. But according to a report by Business Insider, a company spokesman made it clear that Porsche was not seeking the chairmanship. However, Porsche wanted to get rid of Vogt as chief controller. The automaker publicly announced that the official had promised a “new beginning on the supervisory board.”
This Tuesday the supervisory board met for a special meeting. For the first time, the committee elected a woman as its leader: Tanja Gönner. The former CDU state minister in Baden-Württemberg is the managing director of the powerful Federal Association of German Industries (BDI). In 2022, the parent club sent her to the supervisory board of VfB-AG. Which is why the club now declares that she is “in a position to represent the interests of the club members in a leadership manner”.