The Otto Group is planning some crucial changes at the top of the Hamburg trading group. Michael Otto will hand over the baton as chairman of the foundation and shareholders’ council to his son Benjamin Otto. The Michael Otto Foundation holds the majority of the shares in the Otto Group.
Benjamin Otto, co-founder of the fashion retailer AboutYou, which is part of the group, is expected to take control on March 1, 2026, the Otto Group announced on Monday. The current deputy chairman of the board of trustees and shareholders and member of the supervisory board of the Otto Group will work together with the current chairman of the board, Alexander Birken. Birken will move to the top of the supervisory board on March 1, 2025 and will succeed Michael Otto as chairman.
“One of the biggest challenges for family businesses is successful generational change. At the Otto Group, my son is the third generation to assume overall responsibility for the group of companies,” said Michael Otto. “I am very confident that Benjamin will not only lead the Otto Group into a good economic future, but will also keep the special values of our family company alive. Together with the very experienced and socially committed Alexander Birken at the head of the supervisory board, the group will have strong entrepreneurial and value-oriented control.”
New CEO and CFO
Petra Scharner-Wolff will succeed Birken as CEO on March 1, 2025. She has been working in various positions in the group since 1999 and has been on the Otto Group Executive Board since 2015, responsible for finance, controlling and human resources.
She will then hand over the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to Katy Roewer, who also comes from within her own ranks. She was involved in group controlling and has “significantly shaped the fortunes of the Otto individual company” over the past ten years, according to the statement. She is currently responsible for the areas of service, human resources and finance on an “80 percent” part-time basis as divisional director of the largest group company. She also wants to take on her new role as group finance director four days a week. The successor to Roewer’s current position will be announced at a later date.
“With Petra Scharner-Wolff, an equally outstanding leader will soon be at the helm of the board, who has set an example for the company in many ways over many years at the Otto Group,” says Michael Otto. “Together with the board and with the excellent Katy Roewer as finance and human resources director, she will give the group new impetus and lead it well into the future in challenging times.”
‘End of an era’
Michael Otto, who will turn 80 in 2023, is passing the baton to the next generation. This means that an era for the Otto Group will come to an end in 2026. The Hamburg honorary citizen has held management positions in the company since 1971. He was chairman of the trading group for many years and “formed the former Otto-Versand into an internationally successful, digital trading and service group,” according to the statement. In the future, he will devote more time to his diverse foundation activities.
For his social, ecological and cultural commitment, he has already been awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit (2015), the Federal Government’s CSR Prize (2017), the Hamburg Citizens’ Prize (2020) and the Values Medal of the Values Foundation (2021). In the area of culture, he supported, among other things, the Hamburg Youth Music School and the construction of the Elbphilharmonie.