Rolf-Ernst Breuer (3 November 1937 – 22 May 2024) was a German businessman and lawyer. He spent almost his whole career at Deutsche Bank, of which he was CEO from 1997 to 2002 and president of the supervisory board from 2002 to 2006. He is credited with expanding the bank to international importance. He was engaged in financial, cultural and educational organisations, especially at the Goethe University Frankfurt.
Life and career
Born in Bonn on 3 November 1937,[1] he became an apprentice at the Mainz branch of Süddeutsche Bank, a successor institution of Deutsche Bank after World War II.[2][3] He went into law and banking rather coincidentally, as he said in interview around his 80th birthday; his father had recommended chemistry, while he was interested in music and theatre direction, but realised that he was not talented enough for these fields.[3] Breuer completed the apprenticeship at the Munich branch in 1958, then re-established as Deutsche Bank.[2] He studied law at the University of Bonn,[4] earning a doctorate.[2]
He went for internships to two banks in London and Paris, and returned to Deutsche Bank in 1966.[2] He became head of the stocks department at the Frankfurt headquarters in 1974.[5] He was a member of the board, and became CEO in 1997, succeeding Hilmar Kopper.[2] He remained in the position until 2002, and was president of the supervisory board from 2002 to 2006.[6] During his time at the helm of Deutsche Bank, he advanced the internationalization of the organization and developed activities on the capital market.[6][7] In 1999, Deutsche Bank bought the American Bankers Trust, initiating a global network.[2] In 2001, the bank's stocks were introduced at the New York Stock Exchange.[6] The bank overall experienced substantial international expansion under his leadership.[2][8]
In an interview [de] published on 4 February 2002, Breuer doubted the creditworthiness of Leo Kirch. When Kirch's media group, Kirch Group, went bankrupt shortly afterwards, Kirch blamed Breuer and the bank and sued them. In 2014,[5] after Kirch's death, a multi-million settlement with his heirs was finally achieved.[2][6][8]
Breuer was interested in a consolidation of Germany as a financial marketplace, which earned him the nickname "Mr. Finanzplatz". He was president of the supervisory board of the Deutsche Börse, chairman of the council of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, initiator and board member of the Aktionskreis Finanzplatz, and president of the Bundesverband deutscher Banken.[9]
Breuer was active in positions of cultural and educational relevance.[5] He was a member of the council of the Goethe University Frankfurt[5] from 2001 to 2014, from 2005 as its speaker.[10] In the position he worked towards a modernisation of the university. He was also a member of the board of trustees of both the university's Goethe Business School and the House of Finance. He worked in the supervisory board and as president of the financial committee of the Universitätsklinikum, and was on the board of directors of both the Gesellschaft für Kapitalmarktforschung and the Center of Financial Studies.[10] He was president of the Kulturstiftung der Länder [de].[5]
Breuer died on 22 May 2024 in Frankfurt at the age of 86,[2][8][9] after a long illness.[6]
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