Deutsche Bank's Chairman Builds a Private Power Haus in Munich
- Supervisors of 10 DAX companies share a Munich office suite
- Achleitner says it’s a ‘private office of a group of friends’
Even in the historic center of Munich, the Palais Preysing stands out: Sitting just opposite the Bavarian royal palace, the 289-year-old baroque confection practically drips with ornate stucco decorations. Beyond its grand entrance, a red carpet leads up a sweeping staircase resting on the shoulders of intricately carved caryatids. But like many of its less glamorous neighbors, the building has been divided into suites for doctors, dentists, and lawyers. And tucked in among the nameplates is the plaque of a certain “D.A.L.F.A. Munich Office.”
That’s an acronym for the surnames -- and the private offices -- of a quintet of Germany’s most influential corporate kingmakers: Michael Diekmann, Ann-Kristin Achleitner, Peter Löscher, Joachim Faber, and Paul Achleitner, Ann-Kristin’s husband. The office mates hold seats on the supervisory boards of 10 of the 30 members of the benchmark DAX Index and board positions on more than a half-dozen other companies in Germany and abroad. The concentration of power is reminiscent of what a generation ago was called Germany Inc., the network of executives who ran big companies in the postwar era.