German CEO’s call for a ‘prettier’ board flops
Fri 18 February 2011
, Laura Stevens, Wall street journal online
Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Josef Ackermann has come under criticism in Germany for joking that the inclusion of women on the bank's all-male executive board would make it "more colorful and prettier, too."
The remark made last week, amid a contentious debate in Germany over whether to impose mandatory quotas for women on corporate boards, has sparked a bitter response from women across the political spectrum.
Mr. Ackermann's comment came in response to a reporter's question about the bank's position on quotas. After citing examples of the bank's achievements in promoting diversity, Mr. Ackermann said it unfortunately hadn't been successful in finding a woman to fill a position on the 12-member executive committee, which includes its management board. "But I hope that someday it will be more colorful and prettier, too," he said.
The initial response to Mr. Ackermann's comment was muted but the outcry has grown. The business daily Handelsblatt on Monday carried the story across its front page under the headline "Man, Ackermann!"
"Whoever wants it to be more colorful or prettier should go to a flower meadow or a museum," Ilse Aigner, Germany's minister for consumer protection, told Handelsblatt in comments confirmed by her office. "I wish Mr. Ackermann were as ambitious regarding the advancement of women as he is regarding issuing returns" on his company's stock, she added.
A Deutsche Bank spokesman said Mr. Ackermann's quote was taken out of context and that he had intended to highlight the bank's achievements in promoting women. Women account for 16.5% of the bank's management, the bank said. A woman served on its board from 1988 to 1996.
In a written response to the flap, Deutsche Bank said Mr. Ackermann's "concrete endorsement together with that of his colleagues on the Group Executive Committee of greater gender diversity in the bank's management positions demonstrate that he and the bank support a performance-driven promotion of women [and men]."
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