Deripaska snares Wolf
Austrias best-paid manager is to work for oligarch Oleg Deripaska, it has emerged.Austrian-Canadian car parts manufacturer Magna announced today (Mon) co-chief Siegfried Wolf had decided not to extend his contract but to join OJSC Russian Machines.The Styrian will head the supervisory board of the company which one of Russias largest industrial holdings.Wolf has been working for Magna for 15 years. He became its co-CEO five years ago. With 3.8 million Euros a year, Wolf is currently Austrias best-paid manager.Magna said it had plans to install a new co-chief but let Donald Walker run its operations.Styrian Social Democratic (SPÖ) Governor Franz Voves said Wolfs achievements for the province will never be forgotten. “Styria owes many assignments and jobs to Wolf,” he said.Peoples Party (ÖVP) Deputy Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer praised Wolf as “one of the most successful managers in the world”.Voves said he was convinced Magnas facilities in Styria will continue to prosper in the future despite Wolfs departure and the withdrawal from the day to day business of Frank Stronach, who founded the firm in the 1950s.Stronach who was awarded the Great Honorary Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria with a Gold Star by ÖVP Economic Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner last week ensured his decision will not have unpleasant effects on his home provinces “car cluster”.The Weiz-born entrepreneur took over struggling Austrian car maker Steyr Daimler Puch in 1998 and set up the Magna Steyr factory just outside the city of Graz where more than 40,000 vehicles were built for BMW, Peugeot, Aston Martin and other firms in the first half of this year.The provinces “car cluster” features around 180 companies with 44,000 employees.Stronach stressed he will now fully focus on the creation and construction of E-Cars.The billionaire already revealed in an interview in June he planned to pour 65 million Euros into the development of electric cars as a first-off investment, with Magna contributing around 180 million Euros.”E-Cars are a big issue, and I want to be in charge,” he told Austrian magazine News.