New Volkswagen head Oliver Blume claims top spot in CEO Impact Ranking

It is once again the CEO of Volkswagen that takes the top spot of the CEO Impact Ranking in the third quarter, only that, since September, his name is Oliver Blume rather than Herbert Diess. For the ranking, which was published in Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, UNICEPTA analysed the media impact of all top DAX executives. The analysts of the media, marketing and corporate intelligence company used a reach-based index score based on the executives' reception probability, as well as the focus and tonality of media coverage.

The change of leadership at DAX heavyweight Volkswagen unsurprisingly drew a lot of media attention, both in Germany and internationally. The Wall Street Journal, for instance, reports that Oliver Blume supports the company's ambitious e-mobility strategy, though he somewhat played down the expectations. VW will likely continue to produce vehicles with low-carbon combustion engines for many years to come, he said. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes that "the new CEO does not want to lose any time." While Blume remained vague on many issues and announced that he would pursue an appreciative leadership style, "there are many processes being launched in the background that are supposed to signal that he is hitting the ground running and is not shying away from making tough decisions," the paper says.

Porsche IPO increases impact of Oliver Blume and Hans Dieter Pötsch

Part of the reason why Oliver Blume achieved by far the highest impact score is that, when he took on the role of CEO of Volkswagen, he remained CEO of Porsche AG, which went public at the end of September. The New York Times highlights the strong link between VW and Porsche that is rooted in the companies' history, as well as Blume's double role. The IPO of the VW subsidiary Porsche was the biggest since that of Deutsche Telekom in 1991, and as such was thoroughly discussed in leading international media outlets and on Twitter, often with direct reference to Blume.

The most recent events in the Porsche-Piëch empire also catapulted Hans Dieter Pötsch to fourth place in the Impact Ranking. As CEO of the DAX-listed Porsche SE (Porsche Automobil Holding) he was visible with a number of statements on both the CEO change at VW and the Porsche IPO. Handelsblatt reports that Pötsch was the driving force in finding a successor to Diess. His main argument in favour of Oliver Blume was that "he is accepted by all sides."

Recession and sanctions are important topics for Christian Sewing and Martin Brudermüller

Christian Sewing, CEO of Deutsche Bank, takes second place in the ranking, thus advancing by one spot. Media outlets were particularly interested in his insight concerning a possible recession. The Wall Street Journal quotes him as saying that the coming months will remain difficult. He has been successful in positioning his company on the central topic of sustainability. Deutsche Bank regards the challenge as a business opportunity. "We intend to use the opportunities that we have as a bank in this area," Sewing told Handelsblatt.

Martin Brudermüller, CEO of BASF, also advanced by one spot and is now ranked third. He is considered one of the most prominent voices warning against the possible economic impact of the sanctions on Russia, and at one point even feared they could result in “the most severe economic crisis since the end of WWII, " notes The Daily Telegraph. Brudermüller’s outlook has since become more optimistic. He assumes "that the Ludwigshafen site, one of the largest areas for the chemical industry in the world with almost 40,000 employees, will receive a 'sufficient' amount of gas even if the German government changes the status of its Gas Emergency Plan to level3 due to the lack of gas deliveries from Russia," notes Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Kasper Rorsted announces exit at Adidas, dispute with Kanye West

Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted, who said in August that he will give up his post next year, reaches fifth place. A number of media outlets published summaries of his term following his announcement, with mixed tonality. Once admired as the CEO of the Year, Rorsted was recently accused of "a lack of innovation and his brand not having enough appeal," writes Welt am Sonntag. On the international stage, a dispute with musical artist Kanye West called attention to the CEO. The controversial rapper insulted Rorsted on social media and accused the company of stealing his designs. Adidas has since put its relationship with its former marketing figurehead under review.

Also in the Top 10 are Guillaume Faury (Airbus, sixth place), Rolf Buch (Vonovia, seventh place), Oliver Zipse (BMW, eighth place), Ola Källenius (Mercedes-Benz, ninth place) und Leonhard Birnbaum (E.ON, tenth place).

For the new CEO Impact Ranking, UNICEPTA analysed roughly 14,100 articles from German and international print and online sources as well as posts on Twitter between July and September of 2022. The ranking is based on the results of the UNICEPTA "DAX-Benchmark", which the media, marketing and corporate intelligence provider uses to keep continuous track of the media presence of all DAX-listed companies and their CEOs, as well as the reception probability, focus, and tonality of media coverage.