When Herbert Diess stepped down from the CEO position at Volkswagen in 2022, it wasn't without compensation. In fact, VW still pays him more than his successor.
It's been several years since Herbert Diess was CEO of Volkswagen. But the German brand is still paying the man's salary.
This is revealed by the accounts, which Business Insider has examined.
According to the annual accounts, Herbert Diess received 83 million kroner from the Volkswagen Group's already crisis-stricken cash tank during 2024.
That's more than current director Oliver Blume gets. And that's even though Blume also 'sides-up' as the person responsible for Porsche.
Herbert Diess can laugh all the way to the bank, though. Since his firing, he has also taken payment for advertising for the Chinese Nio.
Fired director earns many times more than his replacement
Combined with bonus schemes and contract requirements, this means that Herbert Diess earns better than anyone else in the Volkswagen Group, even though he has long since been kicked out of the headquarters in Wolfsburg.
At the same time, Blume and several other board members have given up part of their salaries to support the savings plan, which means that the VW Group will have to cut 35,000 employees by 2030.
It's not just Volkswagen that has to make savings. The knife is being swung across virtually the entire VW Group. For example, Skoda has to save a whopping 8,000 annual salaries.
Furthermore, Porsche is said to have laid off 4,500 people now, while Audi has just closed the brand's only factory in Belgium. A move that means 3,000 factory workers are out of work.
It has recently emerged that Volkswagen, which is under severe economic pressure, may be able to sell one of its factories in Germany to Europe's largest arms manufacturer. Read more about it here .
