More women on the management boards of DAX companies
Women now make up a quarter of the executive board members of Germany’s largest publicly traded companies.
Munich (dpa) – The German economy is seeing a growing number of women in top leadership roles. According to an analysis by the consulting firm Russell Reynolds, the share of women on the executive boards of DAX companies increased last year from 23 per cent to over 25 per cent. For the first time, there are three DAX companies under the leadership of a single female CEO: Commerzbank with Bettina Orlopp, Daimler Truck with Karin Rådström (photo) and Merck with Bélen Garijo.
Germany’s largest publicly traded companies have seen the percentage of women in top management rise from 13% to 25% since 2020, with eleven women being appointed to the executive board of a DAX-listed company last year. Women continue to leave the labour market much earlier than men, however: five female executive board members left their posts in 2024 – all of them after a maximum of three years in office. None of them has taken up a new executive position. On average, men remain on the executive board significantly longer and are 58 years old at the time of retirement, while women retire at 53.
The share of women on the executive board of Commerzbank and Siemens Healthineers is 50 per cent, while in another ten companies it is more than 33 per cent. Porsche SE is the only DAX company without a woman on its executive board.