- Schrempp, Jurgen
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▪ 1999When two stars collided in May 1998, the news piqued the interest of the business community rather than the scientific world. This was because the astral collision was not an actual astronomical event but a symbolic one that represented the merger between Daimler-Benz, the German luxury automaker whose trademark was the three-pointed star, and the Chrysler Corp. of the U.S., whose five-pointed trademark graced the hoods of a more standard line of vehicles. Spearheading this deal—one of the biggest industrial takeovers in history—was German businessman Jürgen Schrempp, the brash and unconventional executive who turned Daimler-Benz around when he took over as chairman in 1995. Schrempp agreed to run the new company, called DaimlerChrysler, jointly with Chrysler's chief executive, Robert Eaton. In spite of this dual stewardship, Daimler-Benz was the dominant partner, and Schrempp was expected to become the sole leader of DaimlerChrysler in three years.The takeover was the latest event in Schrempp's overhaul of Daimler-Benz, the largest industrial concern in Europe. When promoted to chairman in 1994, Schrempp faced the formidable task of restructuring the company, which had diversified rapidly but not necessarily wisely, and turning it into a profitable business once again. Although car sales were profitable, subsidiary businesses such as aerospace, software, and electronics were not.Schrempp wasted little time in paring down the company. By selling more than a dozen subsidiary companies and severely reducing the workforce, he refocused attention on the core automotive business and reversed the outward flow of money. For his efforts, some dubbed him "Neutron Jürgen" after General Electric chief executive Jack Welch, whom critics derided as "Neutron Jack"—a sobriquet that likened Welch's strategy of eliminating numerous jobs in the interest of saving his company to the way a neutron bomb destroys lives while leaving buildings intact. Although Schrempp's approach appeared similar to Welch's, Schrempp saw himself as a hybrid that wedded American concern with profitability to a German tradition of responsibility to employees. As he said, "Only profitable companies can be socially responsible."Schrempp was born on Sept. 15, 1944, in Freiburg im Breisgau, Ger. His association with Daimler-Benz spanned his career. After completing his education, he served as an apprentice motor mechanic at the Mercedes-Benz plant in his hometown and qualified as a graduate engineer. In 1982 he became president of Euclid Inc., a Daimler-Benz subsidiary based in Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1985 he was appointed president of Mercedes-Benz of South Africa. He left South Africa in 1987 to serve as head of the commercial vehicle division of Daimler-Benz. He was named chief executive of the newly founded Deutsche Aerospace AG (now Daimler-Benz Aerospace) in 1989, a position he held until he became chairman of Daimler-Benz in 1995.MARY JANE FRIEDRICH
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Universalium. 2010.