What was changed
In November 2015, Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany's second-largest pharmaceutical group, announced that its chief financial officer Hubertus von Baumbach, 48, would become chairman of the company's management board on 1 July 2016.
The appointment restored family leadership after a quarter-century: von Baumbach, a great-grandson of founder Albert Boehringer, was the first member of the owning family to lead the company since Hubertus Liebrecht did so until 1991.
He took over from Andreas Barner, who had led the group for 24 years and moved to the owners' committee. Von Baumbach had been on the management board since 2009, responsible for finance, after a career in banking and at Roche.
The handover happened as the family firm restructured: a cost program cutting hundreds of jobs by the end of 2016, the sale of its generics subsidiary Roxane, and high expectations for a new diabetes treatment.
What it achieved
Germany's second-largest pharma group returned to family leadership: von Baumbach took over amid a cost program, the Roxane generics sale, and a new diabetes-drug bet.
Why it worked
Seven years on the board, including the CFO seat, made the family successor a known quantity to lenders and employees.
The outgoing CEO moved to the owners' committee rather than leaving, keeping his experience available.
Restructuring and a divestment were already underway, so the new leader inherited momentum, not a pile-up of bad news.
Restoring family leadership reassured long-term owners of the group's independence.
What can be applied
Groom the family successor inside the business: von Baumbach spent seven years on the executive board, including finance, before the top job — so the family returned without a learning curve.
Aftermath
Von Baumbach led Boehringer Ingelheim for nine years before handing the board chairmanship to Shashank Deshpande in July 2025 and taking over the owners' committee — completing a family-leadership cycle that lasted close to a decade.
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