The Managing Board manages QIAGEN and is responsible for defining and achieving QIAGEN’s aims, strategy, policies and results and is expected to act in a sustainable manner by focusing on long-term value creation in the performance of their work. The Managing Board is also responsible for complying with all relevant legislation and regulations as well as for managing the risks associated with the business activities and the financing of QIAGEN. It reports related developments to and discusses the internal risk management and control systems with the Supervisory Board and the Audit Committee. Under Dutch Law, QIAGEN's Managing Board, which has two members, has chosen to work with an Executive Committee and is accountable for the actions and decisions of the Executive Committee, which is comprised of the CEO, the CFO and certain experienced leaders who have responsibilities for the operational management of the Company and the achievement of its objectives and results. The Managing Board has ultimate responsibility for the Company’s external reporting and is answerable to shareholders of the Company at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. Pursuant to the two-tier corporate structure, the Managing Board is required to render account for the performance of its duties to the Supervisory Board and the General Meeting of Shareholders (General Meeting). The Managing Board provides the Supervisory Board with timely information necessary for the exercise of the duties of the Supervisory Board. In discharging its duties, the Managing Board takes into account the interests of QIAGEN, its enterprises and all parties involved in QIAGEN, including shareholders and other stakeholders.
The Managing Board consists of one or more members as determined by the Supervisory Board. The members of the Managing Board are appointed by the General Meeting upon the joint meeting of the Supervisory Board and the Managing Board (the Joint Meeting) having made a binding nomination for each vacancy. However, the General Meeting may at all times overrule the binding nature of such a nomination by a resolution adopted by at least a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, if such majority represents more than half the issued share capital. Managing Directors are appointed annually for the period beginning on the date following the Annual General Meeting up to and including the date of the Annual General Meeting held in the following year.
Members of the Managing Board may be suspended and dismissed by the General Meeting by a resolution adopted by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, if such majority represents more than half of the issued share capital, unless the proposal was made by the Joint Meeting, in which case a simple majority of votes cast is sufficient. Furthermore, the Supervisory Board may at any time suspend (but not dismiss) a member of the Managing Board.
Our Managing Directors for the year ended December 31, 2017 and their ages as of January 31, 2018, are as follows
Name | Age | Position |
---|---|---|
Peer M. Schatz | 52 | Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer |
Roland Sackers | 49 | Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer |
The following is a brief summary of the background of each of the Managing Directors. References to “QIAGEN” and the “Company” in relation to periods prior to April 29, 1996 mean QIAGEN GmbH and its consolidated subsidiaries:
Peer M. Schatz, 52, joined QIAGEN in 1993, when the Company had just 30 employees and revenues of approximately $2 million, and has been Chief Executive Officer since January 1, 2004. He was Chief Financial Officer between 1993 and 2003 and became a member of the Managing Board in 1998. Mr. Schatz was previously a partner in a private management buyout group in Switzerland, worked in finance and systems positions in Sandoz, Ltd. and Computerland AG, and participated in the founding of start-up companies in the computer and software trading industry in Europe and the United States. Mr. Schatz graduated from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, with a Master's degree in Finance in 1989 and obtained an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 1991. Mr. Schatz served as a member of the German Corporate Governance Commission from 2002 to 2012. He is Managing Director of PS Capital Management GmbH. He is a board member of AdvaMedDx, an advocacy dedicated to issues facing the in vitro diagnostics industry in the United States and Europe, and ALDA (the Analytical, Life Science and Diagnostics Association), a trade association of developers and suppliers in these fields.
Roland Sackers, 49, joined the Company in 1999 as Vice President Finance and has been Chief Financial Officer since 2004. In 2006, Mr. Sackers became a member of the Managing Board. Between 1995 and 1999, he served as an auditor with Arthur Andersen Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft Steuerberatungsgesellschaft. Mr. Sackers earned his Diplom-Kaufmann from University of Münster, Germany. He is a former member of the Supervisory Board and Audit Committee of IBS AG and a former member of the board of directors of Operon Biotechnologies, Inc. Mr. Sackers is a board member of the industry association BIO Deutschland. He is also a non-executive director and chair of the audit committee of Immunodiagnostic Systems Holding PLC (IDS), a leading producer of immunological tests for research and diagnostic applications publicly listed in the United Kingdom.
Resolutions to enter into transactions under which members of the Managing Board could have a conflict of interest with QIAGEN, and which are of material significance to QIAGEN and/or the relevant member of the Managing Board, require the approval of the Supervisory Board. A Managing Director that has a personal conflict of interest will not participate in the decision making process regarding such item. QIAGEN has not entered into any such transactions in 2017. No credit, loans or similar benefits were granted to members of the Managing Board. Additionally, the Managing Board Members did not receive any benefits from third parties that were either promised or granted in view of their position as members of the Managing Board.