Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> October 2, 2012

Interview with the President, Chairman and CEO: AGCO Corporation (AGCO)

Richenhagen, Martin H.
Martin H. Richenhagen was selected by the board of directors in March 2004 as President and Chief Executive Officer of AGCO Corporation. He was appointed to Chairman of the board on Aug. 15, 2006, and continues to serve on the executive committee and the succession-planning committee. Previously, Mr. Richenhagen was the Executive Vice President at Forbo International SA, a manufacturing firm with headquarters in Switzerland. He also served as Group President for CLAAS KgaA mbH, a global manufacturer of agricultural equipment with headquarters in Germany. Prior to 1995, Mr. Richenhagen was the Senior Executive Vice President of Field Operations for Schindler Holding GmbH in Germany. From 2006 through the first quarter of 2007, until its sale to Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., Mr. Richenhagen served as a board member for the Phelps Dodge Corporation on the audit, finance and corporate governance committees. He is currently a board member for PPG Industries, a leading coatings and specialty products and services company, where he is also sitting on the audit and technology and environment committees. Mr. Richenhagen is a member of the board of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He has served as Chairman of the board of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and is a Life Honorary Director of AEM. In the course of two decades, his manufacturing career has covered a wide array of executive positions and managing directorships with responsibility for sales, marketing, human resources management, acquisitions, joint ventures, logistics, materials purchase, inventory management and competitor intelligence. An international business executive, Mr. Richenhagen is fluent in several languages and has lived overseas for many years. He graduated from the University of Bonn. In December 2008, Mr. Richenhagen was appointed Honorary Professor to the faculty of agricultural machinery at the TU Dresden, Dresden University of Technology in Germany. Profile
TWST: Please give us a history and overview of AGCO.

Mr. Richenhagen: The company was founded in 1990. And at that time, it was a management buyout of certain parts of Allis-Chalmers.