At the end of December 2024, Frank Stührenberg, Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Contact and CEO, will retire after 33 years with the company. He will be succeeded by Dirk Görlitzer, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer (COO) since 2020.
In order to ensure a smooth transition, Frank Stührenberg and Dirk Görlitzer will share the position of Chief Executive Officer from July 1. Frank Stührenberg will also remain associated with the Phoenix Contact Group in the future as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the newly founded Phoenix Contact E-Mobility Holding SE.
“We are very pleased about this internal succession plan, which ensures maximum stability and continuity in the management of the company,” says Dr. Dipl.-Ing. Eberhard Veit, Chairman of the Phoenix Contact Advisory Board. “Frank Stührenberg has made a significant contribution to the global growth and success of our company over many years. At the same time, he has played a major role in shaping the culture within the company and the direction of today’s Executive Board in cooperation with the Advisory Board and Shareholders’ Meeting. His planned departure at the end of this year now opens up good prospects for his successor, together with his long-standing management colleagues, to successfully develop the strategy and positioning of Phoenix Contact on the current basis.”
Frank Stührenberg, born in 1963, studied economics with a focus on business informatics. He has worked at Phoenix Contact in Blomberg since 1992, including many years in senior sales positions. Stührenberg was appointed to the Executive Board of Phoenix Contact in 2006 and has been its Chairman (CEO) since January 2015.
Dirk Görlitzer, who studied electrical engineering, has been with Phoenix Contact since 1994. His career has taken him from Product Manager to Head of the Industrial Components and Electronics (ICE) business area and on to the current Executive Board of Phoenix Contact.
From quarry to terminal block
Ein Interview mit Dirk Görlitzer
“Our family business is characterized by the fact that top management is also driven by the family spirit of togetherness and responsibility,” emphasizes Dr. Frank Eisert, shareholder and member of the Phoenix Contact advisory board. “After around thirty years at Phoenix Contact, Dirk Görlitzer embodies not only technical and entrepreneurial success, but also – like Frank Stührenberg – the values that characterize our company beyond that: Trust, respect, partnership and reliability. As a passionate advocate of our future vision of the All Electric Society, he will continue to consistently develop the strategic orientation of Phoenix Contact.”
Following the departure of Frank Stührenberg, the Executive Board of Phoenix Contact will continue to include the current members Torsten Janwlecke (COO), Ulrich Leidecker (COO), Frank Possel-Dölken (CDO) and Axel Wachholz (CFO) in addition to Dirk Görlitzer (Chairman and CEO).
