Till Reuter leaves Kuka

Disagreements with Chinese owner as reason?

Robot manufacturer Kuka surprisingly loses his CEO Till Reuter. In a press release, the company announced that he would be resigning his position early in December.

At the weekend, negotiations between the supervisory board and the head of the company, Reuter, should have taken place, in which they separated by mutual agreement. Peter Mohnen is supposed to take over the position temporarily as interim CEO. As CFO, Andreas Pabst will be available on an interim basis.

Kuka was taken over by Midea in 2017

Neither Reuter nor Kuka commented on the reasons for the personnel change. Insiders from the business environment reported that the Chinese investor wanted more control over the robot manufacturer’s operative business. The managers of the Chinese company Midea want to enforce their ideas more and take over the leadership more strongly.

The Chinese conglomerate took over the Augsburg-based company at the beginning of 2017. Midea currently holds almost 95 percent of the shares. The new developments in the relationship between the robot manufacturer and the new owner could be a reason for Reuter’s departure. In the end, it was said that the relationship had deteriorated.

Reuter manages Kuka AG for almost ten years. Last spring he extended his contract as CEO until March 2022.