Stephan Leithner has been appointed as the chief executive officer for Deutsche Börse, taking on the role from 1 October 2024.
Leithner will take over the position from Theodor Weimer who has held the CEO job since 2018. The two will operate as co-CEOs until the end of the year.
Leithner has been a member of the executive board of Deutsche Börse AG since 2018, responsible for pre- & post-trading. In the role he has been chairperson for Clearstream and covered Investment Management Solutions segment with ISS STOXX and SimCorp.
Deutsche Borse said a decision on his succession will be made in due course.
“I would like to thank the supervisory board for this vote of confidence and I am delighted to take on my new role,” said Leithner. “In recent years, we have successfully developed the business model and demonstrated the potential of this company and, in particular, its employees, who work in 56 locations around the world. The challenge now is to further realise this potential across the Group to shape the markets of the future.”
Weimer took over the CEO role in 2018, moving over from his CEO position at HypoVereinsbank UniCredit Bank.
During that time, he has overseen the acquisition of SimCorp and Axioma, among other initiatives such as a 10-year partnership with Google Cloud.
Martin Jetter, chairman of the supervisory board of Deutsche Börse AG, said: “Stephan Leithner is a proven and recognised expert in the capital markets to be CEO. He knows the global exchange landscape and understands the needs of our clients. In recent years, Stephan Leithner has played a significant role in the strategic development of the company. We are convinced that Stephan Leithner has all the prerequisites to continue Deutsche Börse’s successful development.”
Looking back on Theodor Weimer’s term of office, Jetter added: “In 2018, Theodor Weimer was faced with the challenge of leading Deutsche Börse out of a period of deep uncertainty. He and his team have accomplished this challenge with brilliance. The annualised growth in net revenue and EBITDA of 13 per cent during his term speaks for itself. Today, Deutsche Börse is once again a self-confident company that enjoys a high level of public trust. I would like to thank Theodor Weimer for leading Deutsche Börse to new strength.”