Simone Bagel-Trah (born 1969) is a German businesswoman and Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Chairman of the Shareholders' Committee of

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Henkel, is a German multinational chemical and consumer goods company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. It is active in both the consumer and industrial sectors. Founded in 1876, the DAX company is organ ...

Early life and education

Bagel-Trah's mother is

Anja Bohlan Aanya, Anya or Anja is a given name. The names are feminine in most cultures especially Indian, and unisex in several African and European countries. Origins and variant forms * Aanya or Anya is an Indian name that means inexhaustible, limitless ...

, an economist and academic who published several books. Her father is Fritz Bagel. Bagel-Trah is a great-great-granddaughter of the Henkel founder Fritz Henkel. She graduated from the Max Planck Gymnasium in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

in 1988. From 1988 to 1993 she studied biology at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

. In 1998, she received her doctorate.

Career

From 1998 to 2000 Bagel-Trah worked as an independent consultant for project management in the field of microbiology and pharmacy. In 2000, she became Managing Partner of Antiinfectives Intelligence GmbH in

Rheinbach Rheinbach is a town in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis district (Landkreis), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It belongs to the administrative district (Regierungsbezirk) of Cologne. Geography Situated south-west of Bonn and south of Cologne, Rheinbac ...

. She is a founding member of the since 6 December 2007 existing University Council of Heinrich Heine

University of Düsseldorf A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. Since 30 April 2001, Bagel-Trah has been a member of the Supervisory Board of

AG & Co. KGaA. As of 14 April 2008, she was the deputy chairman. On 22 September 2009, she took over the chairmanship, making her the first woman on this position in a

DAX Dax or DAX may refer to: Business and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax Ca ...

-listed company. At the same time she also became Chairman of the Shareholders' Committee, whose members include non-family managers also five Henkel heirs and which combines the interests of the three Henkel family members. Since 28 April 2014 she is member of the Supervisory Board of

Bayer Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of business include pharmaceutica ...

AG.

Awards

Bagel-Trah was named as one of the "75 most influential women in German Business" by ''

Manager Magazin ''Manager Magazin'' (stylized as ''manager magazin'') is a German monthly business magazine focusing on business, finance and management based in Hamburg, Germany. History and profile ''Manager Magazin'' was first published on 1 November 1971. ...

'' and

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three (or MBB, the world’s three larges ...

(BCG) in 2017. In 2020, she was honored by the strategy consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the business magazine ''Manager Magazin'' as the most influential woman in German business of 2019 and named "Prima inter Pares 2019".

Other activities

Corporate boards

Bayer AG Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of business include pharmaceutica ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2014) *

Heraeus Heraeus is a German technology group with a focus on precious and special metals, medical technology, quartz glass, sensors and specialty light sources. Founded in Hanau in 1851, the company is one of the largest family-owned companies in German ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2011) *

Commerzbank Commerzbank AG () is a major German bank operating as a universal bank, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. In the 2019 financial year, the bank was the second largest in Germany by the total value of its balance sheet. Founded in 1870 in Hambu ...

, Member of the Central Advisory Board * HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt, Member of the Advisory Board

Non-profit organizations

Max Planck Society The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (german: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e. V.; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. ...

, Member of the Senate *

(HHU), Member of the Board of Trustees * Düsseldorf Business School, Member of the Board of Trustees *

Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft – or Stifterverband for short – is a registered not-for-profit association that is based in Essen and which also has a capital city office in Berlin. Its work is focused on education, science and inn ...

, Vice Chairwoman of the Board * Fritz Henkel Foundation, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors *

Foundation for Family Businesses The Foundation for Family Businesses (Die Stiftung für Familienunternehmen in Deutschland und Europa) is a non-profit foundation headquartered in Munich, Germany. It has a representative office in Berlin near the Reichstag building. Ever sin ...

, Member of the Board of TrusteesBoard of Trustees
Foundation for Family Businesses. *

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

, Member

Personal life

Simone Bagel-Trah ist married to Christoph Trah (* 1966). Together they have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagel-Trah, Simone 1969 births Living people German chief executives 21st-century German businesswomen Businesspeople from Düsseldorf People in the chemical industry Henkel