About Martin Winterkorn
Martin Winterkorn (born 24 May 1947) is a German former business executive who served as chairman of the board of management (CEO, Vorstandsvorsitzender in German) of Volkswagen AG, the parent company of the Volkswagen Group, as well as chairman of the supervisory board of Audi, and chairman of the board of management of Porsche Automobil Holding SE. He succeeded Bernd Pischetsrieder as CEO of Volkswagen AG in 2007. Prior to that, he had been chairman of the board of management at the Volkswagen Group subsidiary Audi AG. Winterkorn resigned from Volkswagen on 23 September 2015 after the Volkswagen emissions scandal came to light. He resigned as chairman of Audi on 11 November 2015, following the disclosure of further information regarding VW's gasoline-powered engines in connection to the scandal. Winterkorn also served on the board of supervisors for German football club Bayern München from 22 February 2003 until 18 December 2018. He is credited with fostering a successful partnership between Audi and Bayern. Winterkorn was criminally indicted in the United States on 3 May 2018 on charges of fraud and conspiracy related to the emissions cheating scandal. In April 2019, he was also criminally indicted on charges of fraud in Germany. He remains a fugitive in the United States and is wanted by the Environmental Protection Agency on charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act, and multiple counts of wire fraud. In February 2024, Winterkorn appeared in a German court to testify, where he denied any wrongdoing. His criminal trial in Germany was expected to begin in 2025 after being repeatedly postponed due to Winterkorn’s reported poor health, but in June 2026 the trial was indefinitely suspended due to continued health issues. In January 2020 it was reported that the German judge in the case stated that Winterkorn might be allowed to keep 12 million dollars in bonuses, and possibly walk free from the charges. In 1993 Winterkorn became head of Group Quality Assurance at Volkswagen AG, and was appointed General Manager of Volkswagen AG with power of attorney in March 1994. Additionally, the indictment raised questions regarding Volkswagen’s internal review of the incident, which at the time of the Winterkorn indictment had not been made public.
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