The German native served as CEO of the Ludwigshafen group from 2011 to 2018, succeeding Hambrecht here, too. Bock ended his tenure in the top management job three years before his contract ended, in a move designed as a work-around against a German rule requiring a two-year “cooling off” period.

This same rule blocked Hambrecht’s path to the supervisory board chair in 2011, with former managing board member Eggert Voscherau taking over the position instead.

Under BASF’s strategic plan to avoid facing the same issue again, Martin Brudermüller was named CEO in 2018 and – like his predecessor – Bock found himself in an unaccustomed cooling his heels period so he could sit in the supervisory board chair’s seat from 2020 rather than 2022.

Following the parent company’s virtual-only annual meeting on Jun. 18, Hambrecht ended his 44-year tenure at BASF, stepping down from the supervisory board. 

Bock, an economist who also served as chief financial officer before being named CEO, was only the fourth non-chemist to head the company in its more than 150-year history. With Martin Brudermüller, another chemist took the helm.