Messe Dusseldorf president and CEO Werner M. Dornscheidt is retiring on 30 June. Wolfram N. Diener will succeed him as CEO on 1 July, with Erhard Wienkamp as MD of Fair Management and Bernhard J. Stempfle as MD Finance and Technical Operations, Digital Strategy and Communication, completing the new management team.
“Trade fairs are my life,” said Dornscheidt, who has spent 17 years as a president and CEO and about 34 years in total with the Messe, home to the Drupa print trade show. “What we have built up together with my team over all those years benefits the company today. While conditions are difficult at present, it is comforting to know that ‘my’ company is in good hands. The team is already busy working on a re-start and developing further digital add-ons so that Messe Dusseldorf will also remain the successful, reputable company in future that it is today. I have made my contribution.”
In 2004 Dornscheidt took over as CEO of the company when the Messe Dusseldorf Group posted an ROI of 6.4% and a core capital ratio of 34.4%. Its ROI recently rose to 14.8% and its core equity ratio to 66%.
Profitable, subsidy-free management and financial stability are two trademarks of the Dornscheidt era. The Messe Dusseldorf Group closed the last full business year under his leadership with a sales increase of 28.7% to 378.5m Euro. Group earnings after tax more than doubled in 2019 at 56.6m Euro.
Diener said of becoming new CEO: “I am delighted at the trust placed in me. We can perfectly build on Werner Dornscheidt’s achievements and jointly rise to the challenges ahead.”
