Optics Giant Zeiss Changes Hands, Appoints New CEO!

After almost 20 years of service at Carl Zeiss AG, President and CEO Dr. Karl Lamprecht has decided not to renew his contract. In view of this, the Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss AG has decided to appoint Andreas Pecher as the new President and CEO from April 2025 onwards.
Andreas Pecher has been a member of ZEISS since 2013 and will be a member of the Executive Board in 2022, heading the ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (SMT) division.
Dr. Michael Bolle, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, commented: "Andreas' appointment is a clear demonstration of the company's ability to select outstanding talent from within to take over the role of President and CEO. He possesses a deep technical understanding and has gained extensive management experience in a number of leadership positions, successfully developing and implementing innovation and growth strategies."
Dr. Lamprecht reportedly informed the company well in advance that he had no intention of extending his contract, which expires in the spring of 2025.Dr. Bolle noted, "Dr. Lamprecht took over as CEO at the beginning of the New Crown outbreak, and under his leadership ZEISS responded effectively to the challenges of the outbreak. With a clear strategic direction and a continuously optimized corporate culture, Karl Lamprecht has given ZEISS a key growth impetus, which is reflected in the significant increase in revenues and number of employees over the past few years."
During Dr. Lamprecht's tenure, ZEISS Group revenues jumped from 6.3 billion euros to more than 10 billion euros, EBIT grew from 922 million euros to approximately 1.7 billion euros (fiscal year 2022/23), and the number of employees increased from 32,000 to more than 44,000.
Dr. Lamprecht commented: "As my contract is coming to an end, I think it is time to focus on my personal interests. Thanks to a number of important strategic decisions, ZEISS has been able to maintain its strong growth momentum, achieving billion-euro revenues and healthy profitability. I would like to sincerely thank the Supervisory Board and all employees for their support; it has been an honor of a lifetime to work for ZEISS."
Other newly appointed positions
In addition, Carl Zeiss AG has recently made other important personnel appointments and contract extensions:
Dr. Frank Rohmund will serve as a member of the Executive Board and head of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology division of ZEISS from January 2025 onwards.
At the same time, the contracts of Susan-Stefanie Breitkopf and Sven Hermann, who are both members of the Executive Board until 2030, have been extended in their roles as Chief Transformation Officer of the ZEISS Group and Head of the ZEISS Consumer Markets Division, respectively.
Since April 1, 2025, the Executive Board of ZEISS AG has consisted of Andreas Pecher (President and CEO), Susan-Stefanie Breitkopf (Chief Transformation Officer), Stefan Müller (CFO), and Sven Hermann (Head of the ZEISS Consumer Markets Division), Dr. Jochen Peter (Head of Division Industrial Quality and Research at ZEISS), Dr. Frank Rohmund (Head of Division Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology at ZEISS) and Dr. Markus Weber (Head of Division Medical Technology at ZEISS).