BMW Chief Executive Helmut Panke left no doubt in recent weeks that he would have been pleased to have his contract extended beyond the mandatory retirement age of 60. As the "captain of the team," he's having great fun, Panke said earlier this month. But when the company's supervisory board announced the week of July 16 that Production Chief Norbert Reithofer, 50, would succeed Panke as CEO on Sept. 1, the day after Panke's 60th birthday, the energetic physicist switched gears quickly. "Where's the top dog?" he joked, referring to his successor, after a luncheon meeting on July 24 with Reithofer and journalists at the company's Munich research center.
The Spies wish Helmut the best of luck.
They don't get any better.
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