Business News
Ulrich Cordes appointed to the arvato AG Board as CFO
Friday 03. April 2009 - Dr. Ulrich Cordes (41) has been appointed to the Executive Board of arvato AG with effect from November 1, 2009. At that time, Cordes, who is currently the Vice President Finance at arvato services Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) will succeed Günter Wilmsmeier (59) as the new CFO. Wilmsmeier retires at the end of November after 22 years of service on the Board. In his capacity as CFO, Cordes also becomes Chief of Staff for arvato AG.
“On behalf of the entire arvato Board, Id like to thank Günter Wilmsmeier for his successful work, his commitment and his extensive expertise, which he has always placed at the service of the company,” said Rolf Buch, CEO of arvato AG, and added: “In Ulrich Cordes the arvato AG Executive Board gains a manager who has repeatedly demonstrated over the years that he is an experienced finance professional. I have worked closely with him in the past and appreciate his extensive knowledge, his management style of leadership through partnership, and his dynamic way of working.”
After studying business administration at the University of Göttingen, Cordes moved to the Research Institute of Public Administration at the German University of Administrative Sciences in Speyer, where he earned a PhD in late 1995. Shortly afterwards he began his Bertelsmann career in Corporate Development at the Corporate Center in Gütersloh. In April 2000, he became the head of Central Accounting at Bertelsmann Services Group and four months was appointed Senior Vice President Finance at Bertelsmann Marketing Services. In 2002, Cordes was appointed CFO of arvato direct services. Since 2007, Ulrich Cordes has served as CFO of arvato services CEE and sat on the companys executive board. Ulrich Cordes was born in Paderborn in 1967. He lives in Gütersloh, and is married with two children.
“Im looking forward to this challenging task and will make every effort to contribute to the continued success of arvato AG,” said Cordes.
Günter Wilmsmeier started his career in 1973 in Corporate Planning for Continental Gummiwerke AG in Hanover, after earning a degree in business administration. In 1977, he left to become an Executive Board assistant at Mohndruck in Gütersloh, where he took over as Commercial Director three years later. In 1987, Wilmsmeier was appointed to the executive board of Bertelsmann Industrie AG, which has done business as arvato AG since 1999.