Effective 1 October 2018, Dr. Christian Müller will become Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Carl Zeiss AG. He will succeed Thomas Spitzenpfeil who, as previously announced, will leave the company. Müller has been CFO of the ZEISS subsidiary Carl Zeiss Meditec AG (FSE: AFX) since 2009. He joined the ZEISS Group in 2002 as Head of Corporate Auditing and Risk Management.

"With the appointment of Dr. Christian Müller, a successful manager with extensive experience within the ZEISS Group will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer at Carl Zeiss AG," explained Prof. Dr. Dieter Kurz, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss AG.

The Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG has decided to appoint Justus Felix Wehmer as CFO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, also effective 1 October 2018. Mr. Wehmer is currently CFO and Co-Head of the Microscopy business group at the ZEISS Group.

In addition, effective 1 October 2018, the Management Board of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG will be expanded from two to three Members with the appointment of Jan Willem de Cler. Mr. de Cler has been at ZEISS since 2004 and currently heads Surgical Ophthalmology within the Medical Technology business group. As Member of the Management Board, his responsibilities will include Human Resources and Employee Development.

"We are particularly pleased that we were able to appoint three long-time employees from the ZEISS Group to these positions. This demonstrates that our leadership development is quite effective," said Prof. Dr. Michael Kaschke, President & CEO of Carl Zeiss AG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG.

The respective Supervisory Boards would like to wish Dr. Christian Müller, Justus Felix Wehmer and Jan Willem de Cler much success in their new positions. The Supervisory Board and the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG would also like to thank Thomas Spitzenpfeil for his commitment and many years of successful cooperation, and wish him all the best and much success in his personal and professional future.


Dr. Christian Müller has been CFO and Member of the Management Board of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG since 2009. He is responsible for Finance and Controlling, Investor Relations, and Legal and Taxes. He also oversees Service, Quality Management and Regulatory Affairs. Dr. Müller joined the ZEISS Group in 2002 as Vice-President of Corporate Auditing and Risk Management. In 2006, he transferred to the Medical Technology business group where he headed the newly created Surgical Ophthalmology strategic business unit with sites in Germany, France and Scotland. He previously served as head of finance at Degussa AG starting in 1999 and, from 1997, as department head for auditing and risk management at VIAG AG. He began his professional career at the auditing company C&L Deutsche Revision in 1992. Dr. Christian Müller holds a degree in business administration and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Frankfurt am Main in 1996.

Justus Felix Wehmer has served as Co-Head of the Microscopy business group and Managing Director of Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH since 2015. He headed Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH beginning in 2013. Prior to this, he was vice-president of finance and strategy and general manager at NXP Semiconductors Germany GmbH in Hamburg. He had already worked at ZEISS in the period from 2002 to 2012 – initially as Senior Vice-President for Finance at the Industrial Metrology business group and, from 2007, he held the same position at the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology business group. Justus Felix Wehmer studied business administration at the Academy of Business and Administration in Essen and was awarded an MBA by the London Business School in 1995.

Jan Willem de Cler has been Head of Surgical Ophthalmology at Carl Zeiss Meditec AG since 2010. He came to ZEISS in 2004 as Managing Director of the Benelux sales and service company. He also served as Managing Director of the sales and service company in France and of France Chirurgie Instrumentation. In January 2014, he was responsible for the strategic acquisition of the American company Aaren Scientific Inc., which enabled the further globalization of the surgical ophthalmology business. Jan Willem de Cler studied marketing and management at Nijenrode University in the Netherlands and earned an MBA in international business from the University of Oregon, USA. After holding different positions at General Electric and GE Medical Systems, he became co-founder and head of sales & marketing for the startup Global Healthcare Exchange Europe.