Born in Bensberg, Germany in March, 1965, Bäte attended the University of Cologne and the Leonard Stern School of Business in New York University. He also served with the German Air Force from 1986 until 1987. He began his professional career with McKinsey & Company in New York who he stayed with until 2008 when he joined the Allianz board as chief operating officer and chief financial officer. He was appointed as CEO in 2014, and he has recently had this role extended until 2024.
Training
After school, Bäte took up an apprenticeship at the Westdeutsche Landesbank in Cologne. He then attended the University of Cologne where he gained a degree in Business Administration before gaining an MBA at New York University’s Leonard Stern School of Business.
Career
Bäte’s career began with McKinsey & Company in their New York offices. In 1995, he transferred to their German office and in 1998, he was promoted to overseeing McKinsey’s insurance work for all of Germany. In 2003, he was made Director of McKinsey’s European insurance and asset management sector.
He then joined the board of Allianz in 2008 in the roles of chief operating officer and chief financial officer and then took over control of insurance for the western and southern European region (covering France, Benelux, Italy, Greece, and Turkey). After being appointed CEO of Allianz in 2014, he then also assumed responsibility for human resources in 2015 as part of a board restructuring that saw the board reduced to nine members. Bäte was also asked to join Angela Merkel’s delegation to China in 2018.
Anecdotes
Quote : “We also have to invest in growth. Those who don’t grow will die.”
