Michael Diekmann (born December 23, 1954) is a German manager who was the CEO of

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 ...

in from 2003 to 2015.

Early life and education

Diekmann knew early that the family construction business would go to his twin brother, who was more interested in engineering. Instead, he earned his degree from Goettingen University, where he studied law and philosophy.

Career

Diekmann began his career with

in 1988 after becoming frustrated with his own business, a publishing house that focused on travel guides. During his career, he later worked in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he successfully revamped the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, the Allianz subsidiary there. In 1996, he moved to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

to run Allianz's Asia-Pacific business front.European CEO
/ref> As CEO, Diekmann steered Allianz through a difficult period at the start of the century, moving it from a low point in profitability to a bumper year in 2013 with an operating profit of €10.1 billion. Under his leadership, the insurer also converted its legal form, then

Aktiengesellschaft (; abbreviated AG ) is a German language, German word for a corporation limited by Share (finance), share ownership (i.e., one which is owned by its shareholders) whose shares may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria ...

, or German joint-stock company, to

Societas Europaea A (, ; "European society" or "company"; plural: ; abbr. SE) is a public company registered in accordance with the European corporate law, corporate law of the European Union (EU), introduced in 2004 with the Council Regulation on the Statute ...

(SE) in 2006. By 2014, Allianz had grown to become the world’s second-biggest investor after

BlackRock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

. That same year, Diekmann weathered a hailstorm of criticism about the sagging performance at the firm’s asset manager,

Pimco Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO) is an American investment management firm. While it has a specific focus on active fixed income management worldwide, it manages investments in many asset classes, including fixed income, share ca ...

. Diekmann's total compensation from 2010 was around one hundred and five million Euros. In late 2014, it was announced that Diekmann, would step down the following year after he turned 60, which is traditionally the age limit for board members at Allianz. At the time, investors widely expected him to stay in his role for a further one to two years.

Other activities

Corporate boards

Google Cloud Platform Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a suite of cloud computing services offered by Google that provides a series of modular cloud services including computing, Computer data storage, data storage, Data analysis, data analytics, and machine learnin ...

, Member of the European Advisory Board (since 2022) *

Temasek Holdings Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited ( ) is a Singaporean State ownership, state-owned multinational investment firm. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek has a net portfolio of US$288 billion (S$389 billion) as of 2024. Headquartered at Orchard ...

, Member of the European Advisory Panel (since 2016) * Linklaters, Member of the International Advisory Group (since 2016) * Fresenius, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board (since 2015) *

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2008) *

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 ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (2003-2019) * Linde, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board (2003-2017) *

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (2003-2008)

Non-profit organizations

* Allianz Umweltstiftung, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees (-2015) *

European School of Management and Technology The European School of Management and Technology, also known as ESMT Berlin, is a private non-profit business school based in Berlin, Germany. The business school was founded in 2002 by 25 companies and institutions and offers a range of Master o ...

(ESMT), Chairman of the Board of Trustees (2007-2015) * Siemens Stiftung, Member of the Board of Trustees * International Business Leaders Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai (IBLAC), Member *

Monetary Authority of Singapore The Monetary Authority of Singapore or (MAS), is the central bank and financial regulatory authority of Singapore. It administers the various statutes pertaining to money, banking, insurance, securities and the financial sector in general, as ...

, Member of the Advisory Board *

Munich Security Conference The Munich Security Conference (MSC), formerly Munich Conference on Security Policy, is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Germany, since 1963. Over the past four decades the Munich Security Con ...

, Member of the Advisory Council (2008-2015)Advisory Council

. * Pan-European Insurance Forum (PEIF), Member (2003-2015) *

Geneva Association ''Insurance Economics'' is a research programme set up by the Geneva Association, also known as the International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics. It is dedicated to making an original contribution to the progress of insurance th ...

, Vice Chairman (2003-2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diekmann, Michael 1954 births Living people Businesspeople from Bielefeld BASF people Allianz people