Martin Winterkorn Quote

Martin Winterkorn (born 24 May 1947) is a German former business executive who was chairman of the board of management (CEO, Vorstandsvorsitzender in German) of Volkswagen AG, the parent company of the Volkswagen Group, chairman of the supervisory board of Audi, and chairman of the board of management of Porsche Automobil Holding SE. He succeeded Bernd Pischetsrieder as CEO of Volkswagen AG in 2007. Prior to that, he had been the chairman of the board of management of the Volkswagen Group subsidiary Audi AG.
Winterkorn resigned from Volkswagen on 23 September 2015 after the Volkswagen emissions scandal was revealed. He resigned as chairman of Audi on 11 November 2015, after further information associated with the scandal was revealed in regard to VW's gasoline-powered engines. Winterkorn was on the board of supervisors for German football club Bayern München from 22 February 2003 until 18 December 2018. Winterkorn was credited for the successful partnership between Audi and Bayern.
Winterkorn was criminally indicted over the emissions cheating scandal in the United States on 3 May 2018 on charges of fraud and conspiracy.
In April 2019 he was criminally indicted on charges of fraud in Germany. He is currently a fugitive of justice in the United States, and is wanted by the Environmental Protection Agency for conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act, and three counts of wire fraud. In February 2024, Winterkorn appeared in a German court to testify, with his own criminal trial expected to start later in the year.