Kurt Bock (born 3 July 1958), is a German businessman who has been president of the German Chemical Industry Association since 2016, and was

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) of

BASF BASF SE (), an initialism of its original name , is a European Multinational corporation, multinational company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen, Ge ...

, the world's largest chemical producer, from 2011 to 2018.

Early life

Bock was born in 1958, in

Rahden Rahden is a town in the far north of North Rhine-Westphalia between Bielefeld and Bremen and between Hanover and Osnabrück. Rahden is part of the Minden-Lübbecke District in East Westphalia-Lippe. Rahden was first mentioned in 1033, and from 1 ...

, Eastern Westphalia,

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. Bock studied business administration at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

and

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, and received his doctorate in economics from the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

in 1985. He wrote his thesis on "Corporate success and organization".

Career

Bock joined the finance division of BASF in 1985, after he earned his doctorate (PhD) in economics from the University of Bonn. In 1992, he joined Bosch as head of the finance and balance division. Later he took over the management of the Brazilian subsidiary. In 1998, Bock returned to BASF and was first

chief financial officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...

of the US subsidiary. In 2000, he became head of logistics and IT at the BASF parent company. In 2003, he was appointed to the executive board of BASF AG with responsibility for the finance department. In 2007, he also assumed responsibility as chairman and CEO of BASF Corporation,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, US. Bock became chief executive of BASF in May 2011. He served as CEO until resigning from the board at the end of the

annual general meeting An annual general meeting (AGM, also known as the annual meeting) is a meeting of the general membership of an organization. These organizations include membership associations and companies with shareholders. These meetings may be required ...

on May 4, 2018. He was succeeded by Martin Brudermüller. Bock is assumed to be elected as chairman of the BASF supervisory board after the expiration of the mandatory two-year cooling-off period in 2020. In March 2013, Bock advocated inside BASF to renounce the formal use of academic titles in corporate language and correspondence. In September 2012, Bock was elected as chairman of the

European Chemical Industry Council The European Chemical Industry Council or Cefic (from its former French name ''Conseil Européen des Fédérations de l'Industrie Chimique'') is the main European trade association for the chemical industry. It was founded in 1972. Its headquar ...

. From 2013 to 2014, he headed the

International Council of Chemical Associations The International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) is the trade association of the global chemical industry. Its members are both regional trade associations like Cefic or the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association, and also nati ...

ICCA. He has been a member of the executive board and the Presidium of the German Chemical Industry Association since autumn 2012. In September 2016, he was elected as its president. The term of office runs for two years, up to the next general meeting in 2018. Bock is also a member of the joint advisory council of the

Allianz Allianz SE ( , ) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core businesses are insurance and asset management. Allianz is the world's largest List of largest insurance ...

companies.

Other activities

* Baden-Badener Unternehmer-Gespräche (BBUG), Member of the Executive Board *

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 in ...

, Vice-President

Personal life

Bock is married, with three children.

References

1958 births Living people BASF people German chief executives Pennsylvania State University alumni University of Münster alumni University of Cologne alumni German chemical industry businesspeople {{Germany-business-bio-stub