Porsche Automobil Holding SE
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Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE (), is a German
multinational corporation A multinational corporation (MNC; also called a multinational enterprise (MNE), transnational enterprise (TNE), transnational corporation (TNC), international corporation, or stateless corporation, is a corporate organization that owns and cont ...
primarily known as a
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
of
Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines and turbomachinery. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxon ...
with investments in the
automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...
. Porsche SE is headquartered in Zuffenhausen, a city district of
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
,
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...
and is majority owned by the Austrian-German Porsche–Piëch family. The company was founded in Stuttgart as ''Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH'' in 1931 by
Ferdinand Porsche Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 â€“ 30 January 1951) was a German automotive engineering, automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche, Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first Petrol engine, gasoline–Electric motor, el ...
(1875–1951) and his son-in-law Anton Piëch (1894–1952).


Corporate structure

Porsche SE was created in June 2007 by renaming the old Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, and became a holding company for the families' stake in Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH (50.1%) (which in turn held 100% of the old Porsche AG) and currently is the major shareholder in Volkswagen AG (31.3%) and holds the majority voting rights (53.1%). At the same time, the new Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG (which stands for '' Doktor-Ingenieur
honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
Ferdinand Porsche
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 ...
''), usually shortened to Porsche AG, was created for the car manufacturing business. In August 2009, Porsche SE and
Volkswagen AG Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines and turbomachinery. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony ...
reached an agreement that the car manufacturing operations of the two companies would merge in 2011, to form an "Integrated Automotive Group". The management of Volkswagen AG agreed to 50.7% of Volkswagen AG being controlled by Porsche SE in return for Volkswagen AG management taking Porsche SE management positions (in order for Volkswagen management to remain in control), and for Volkswagen AG acquiring ownership of Porsche AG. As of 2024, the 31.9% stake in Volkswagen AG and 12.5% stake in Porsche AG are the predominant investments by Porsche SE, and Volkswagen AG in turn controls brands and companies such as
Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...
,
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...
,
SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...
, Å koda,
Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...
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Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French automotive industry, manufacturer of high performance vehicle, high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German Empire, German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the ...
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Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. ( , ), usually referred to as Lamborghini or colloquially Lambo, is an Italian manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its su ...
, Porsche,
Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A () is an Italian motorcycle manufacturing company headquartered in Bologna, Italy. History Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called ...
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Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV; , abbreviated ''VWN'' ) is a German brand, marque of light commercial vehicles, owned by Volkswagen Group. It is headquartered in Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany. Originally part of Volkswagen Passenger ...
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Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...
,
MAN A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...
, as well as Volkswagen Financial Services. Josef Michael Ahorner, Stefan Piëch and Peter Daniell Porsche, are members of
board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
of Porsche Automobil Holding along with
Wolfgang Porsche Wolfgang Heinz Porsche (born 10 May 1943) is a German-Austrian manager and a member of the Porsche family. He is a shareholder and chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE as well as of Porsche AG. He is the youngest son o ...
, Hans Michel Piëch, Ferdinand Oliver Porsche and Hans-Peter Porsche.


Subsidiaries

In addition to its subsidiaries Volkswagen Group and Porsche AG, Porsche SE maintains a diversified portfolio of further corporate investments, including a 35.5% stake in
PTV Group PTV Planung Transport Verkehr GmbH is a German company specializing in software and consulting services for traffic and transportation and mobility. Their transport planning software, ''Vision Traffic Suite'' comprise the PTV Group's pro ...
, an 11.3% stake in the American traffic information provider
INRIX INRIX, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, US. It provides location-based data and software-as-a-service analytics—such as real-time and historical traffic conditions, road safety, and parking availability†...
, and a 3% stake in Isar Aerospace.


History


EU and the Volkswagen Law

Volkswagen and its principal factory (with the newly built town that hosted it, called
Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...
today) were designed by Ferdinand Porsche and his design office, and the factory with supporting town facilities were established by the German government then led by the National Socialist (Nazi) Party in 1937–1938. When the government-owned Volkswagenwerk GmbH was privatized in 1960 into Volkswagen AG (VW AG), the German parliament enacted the law known as Volkswagen Law to govern the privatization process. In order to maintain government control in the privately owned company, the law stipulated that the votes on major shareholder meeting resolutions would require 4/5th (80%) agreement. This effectively gave any shareholder with more than 20% ownership (the government of
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
held 20.1%) a veto of any resolution that is proposed. This not only secured government control, but also prevented the possibility of a hostile takeover in the future. When the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
was founded in 1993, a
European Union law European Union law is a system of Supranational union, supranational Law, laws operating within the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). It has grown over time since the 1952 founding of the European Coal and Steel Community, to promote ...
was signed with the principle of promoting free movement of goods, people and capital within the Union. It became somewhat clear that the anti-takeover measure (the 80% agreement requirement) in Volkswagen Law would violate the
European company law European company law is the part of European Union law which concerns the formation, operation and insolvency of companies (or corporations) in the European Union. The EU creates minimum standards for companies throughout the EU, and has its own c ...
(as a part of the EU law), and it was feared that suitors would eventually be able to take over Volkswagen AG, as amendments to the German law and the bylaws of VW AG were seen to be likely. In late 2005, Porsche took an 18.65% stake in the Volkswagen Group, further cementing their relationship, and preventing a takeover of Volkswagen Group, which was rumoured at the time. Hypothetical suitors included
DaimlerChrysler AG Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a Germany, German Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is o ...
,
BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...
, and
Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
. As of June 2006, the Porsche AG stake in VW AG had risen to 25.1%, giving Porsche the veto rights along with the government. On 26 March 2007, amidst the rumours that
hedge fund A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...
s were trying to takeover VW AG with the intent to dismantle and dispense the components of Volkswagen Group, Porsche took its holding of Volkswagen AG shares to 30.9%, triggering a takeover bid under
German law The law of Germany (), that being the modern German legal system (), is a system of civil law which is founded on the principles laid out by the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, though many of the most important laws, for example ...
which required other shareholders to be given the opportunity to sell the shares at least at the price paid by the new major shareholder. Porsche then formally announced in a press statement that it did not intend to take over Volkswagen Group (it would set its bid price at the lowest possible legal value) but intended to move to avoid a competitor taking a large stake. Porsche's move came after the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
announced that it intends to take steps against the Volkswagen Law. In October 2007, the
European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...
ruled against the law, potentially paving the way for a takeover. On 16 September 2008, Porsche increased its holdings to 35.14%, in effect almost taking control of the company, with more than 35% of the voting rights. It again triggered a takeover bid, but this time over Audi AG. Porsche dismissed the bid as a mere formality, since it was Porsche's intention to keep the corporate structure of the Volkswagen Group. In October 2008, Porsche SE announced its intent to raise its stake in Volkswagen AG to 75% during 2009, and on 7 January 2009, Porsche SE's holding in VW AG was raised to 50.76%. At 75% ownership level, Porsche SE would have been able to bring VW AG's cash position onto Porsche SE books. Porsche's move automatically triggered a bid for
Scania AB Scania AB ( , ), stylised SCANIA in its products, is a major Sweden, Swedish manufacturer headquartered in Södertälje, focusing on commercial vehicles—specifically heavy lorries, trucks and buses. It also manufactures diesel engines for hea ...
, because VW AG already had a controlling position in the Swedish truck-maker. As Porsche had no strategic interest in Scania, they offered the minimum price in that mandatory takeover bid on 19 January 2009. There has been some tension and anxiety among the VW AG management and the workers, who feared that Porsche might replace the management after the takeover, and it may signify a hardened production efficiency control, rejection of demands for pay rises or even personnel cuts.
Ferdinand Piëch Ferdinand Karl Piëch (; 17 April 1937 – 25 August 2019) was an Austrian business magnate, engineer, and executive who held the positions of chairman of the executive board (''Vorstandsvorsitzender'') of the Volkswagen Group from 1993 to 2002 ...
(Chairman of VW AG) and his cousin,
Wolfgang Porsche Wolfgang Heinz Porsche (born 10 May 1943) is a German-Austrian manager and a member of the Porsche family. He is a shareholder and chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE as well as of Porsche AG. He is the youngest son o ...
(Chairman of Porsche SE), also seemed to be on a collision course. However, on 13 August 2009, Scania was bought in totality, Volkswagen AG's supervisory board signed the agreement to create an "integrated automotive group" with Porsche AG, led by Volkswagen AG. Volkswagen would initially take a 49.9 percent stake in Porsche AG by the end of 2009, and it would also see the Porsche–Piëch family shareholders selling the VW distributor ownership of Porsche Holding Salzburg to Volkswagen AG, which is the largest car distributor in Europe. On 5 July 2012, Volkswagen AG announced a deal with Porsche SE, resulting in VW's full ownership of Porsche AG on 1 August 2012. The deal was classified as a restructuring rather than a takeover due to the transfer of a single share as part of the deal. Volkswagen AG paid Porsche AG shareholders $5.61 billion for the remaining 50.1% it did not own. The families later used the amounts they received for Porsche AG and the dealership shares to buy back the Porsche SE shares from Qatar Investment Authority as described in the following section. In October 2013, the EU Court of Justice ruled that a redraft of the Volkswagen law "complied in full" with EU rules, bringing "the matter to a close," as the 80% agreement requirement was taken off. This officially made Porsche SE the controlling owner of Volkswagen AG.


Corporate restructuring

Porsche reformed the company's structure, with Dr Ing. h. c. F. Porsche AG becoming a
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
, renamed "Porsche Automobil Holding SE", and a new Dr Ing. h. c. F. Porsche AG operating company being formed in 2007. Thus the operating activities are separated from holding activities of the company. There was an
Extraordinary General Meeting An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body that occurs at an irregular time.' The term is usually used where the group wo ...
for Porsche AG shareholders which took place on 26 June 2007, at the Porsche Arena in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, Germany to discuss the change to the company structure. By March 2009, Porsche SE was aiming for its first ever credit ratings from U.S. rating agencies
Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is co ...
and
Moody's Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histo ...
. In its process to acquire a majority holding in Volkswagen AG, Porsche SE built up a large debt burden, aggravated by taxes due on very large paper profits on Volkswagen AG options. By July 2009, Porsche SE was faced with debts exceeding 10 billion euros. The supervisory board of Porsche SE finally agreed to a number of arrangements whereby the
Qatar Investment Authority The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In November 2024, the QIA had an estimated $526 ...
would inject a large amount of capital into Porsche SE, and Porsche automobile manufacturing business would be
merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...
with Volkswagen Group. On 23 July 2009, Michael Macht was appointed CEO of Porsche AG, to replace Wendelin Wiedeking, who was expected to receive a compensation package of 50 million euros. In July 2010, Porsche AG appointed Volkswagen executive Matthias Müller to its new CEO position, moving Michael Macht to another executive position within Volkswagen AG. In July 2012, it was announced that Volkswagen AG was taking over the Porsche AG automotive company completely, which bears the same name, but is only a subsidiary of Porsche SE. In June 2013, Qatar Holdings, through the
Qatar Investment Authority The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In November 2024, the QIA had an estimated $526 ...
, sold its 10% holding in Porsche SE back to the founding Porsche–Piëch family, giving them 100% voting rights in the holding company. Porsche SE currently owns 50.73% of the voting rights in Volkswagen AG as the largest (controlling) shareholder.


Spin-off of Porsche AG

On 29 September 2022,
preferred shares Preferred stock (also called preferred shares, preference shares, or simply preferreds) is a component of share capital that may have any combination of features not possessed by common stock, including properties of both an equity and a debt inst ...
of the operating company Dr Ing. h. c. F.
Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...
AG began trading on the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (, former German name: , ''FWB'') is the world's 3rd oldest and 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Located in Frankfurt, ...
(). The shares ended trading on their opening day at €84, valuing the company at €76 billion. Porsche AG has 455.5 million ordinary and preferred shares each. In the listing process,
Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines and turbomachinery. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxon ...
sold 25% + 1 of the ordinary shares of Porsche AG to the holding company Porsche SE, representing 12.5% direct ownership (exclusive of Porsche SE's indirect interest through its holdings in Volkswagen Group). The
Qatar Investment Authority The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In November 2024, the QIA had an estimated $526 ...
, which is the third-largest shareholder in Volkswagen Group, purchased slightly less than 5% of the listed preferred shares, giving the Qatari
sovereign wealth fund A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), or sovereign investment fund, is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as ...
direct ownership of slightly less than 2.5% of Porsche AG. As a result, for the first time in a decade, Porsche SE and the Porsche–Piëch family held direct ownership over their namesake brand. In March 2025, Porche SE being the largest shareholder of
Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...
, is not considering selling its voting shares, contradicting a report by German tabloid,
Bild ''Bild'' (, ) or ''Bild-Zeitung'' (, ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper '' Bild am Sonntag'' () is published instead, which has a differen ...
. The report suggested that Porsche and Piëch families were exploring ideas of selling some Volkswagen shares to raise capital for other investments, potentially reducing their stake from 53.3% to 45%-50%. This could generate between €1.07 billion and €2.69 billion. But statements from Porsche indicates no such plans were made and emphasized their long-term commitment to Volkswagen.


References


External links

* {{Authority control * Holding companies of Germany Car manufacturers of Germany Multinational companies headquartered in Germany Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1931 German companies established in 1931 Companies in the DAX index Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Societas Europaea companies