4. Ola Kaellenius

Ola Kaellenius was born on June 11th 1969 in Västervik, Sweden. After attending school and earning his Abitur at the Danderyd Grammar School (Sweden), he completed his military service in the Swedish army in 1988-89. From 1989 until 1993 he studied at the Stockholm School of Economics (Master in Finance and Accounting) and at the University of St. Gallen, graduating from the CEMS program (Master of International Management).

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In 1993 he joined Daimler-Benz AG as a trainee in the International Management Associate Program. In 1995, Kaellenius headed a team and later a department at the Corporate Controlling unit of Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc., Tuscaloosa, USA. Returning to Stuttgart he became the head of procurement for Mercedes-Benz Cars Engine Emission Management in 2000. In 2001 he was appointed Director of Project Alliance at Procurement Mercedes-Benz Cars. 2002 saw him taking over the position of Director of Procurement Mercedes-Benz Cars Powertrain.

In 2003 Kaellenius became Executive Director, Operations at McLaren Automotive Ltd. in Woking, UK. He also spent the next phase of his career in the United Kingdom, where he was appointed Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines Ltd. in Brixworth in 2005.

In 2009 Kaellenius headed Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc. in Tuscaloosa, USA, where he served as the company’s Vice President and CEO. He returned to Germany in 2010 to become Vice President and Managing Director of Mercedes-AMG GmbH in Affalterbach. In 2013 he was appointed the group president responsible for Marketing & Sales at Mercedes-Benz Cars.

On January 1, 2015, Kaellenius was appointed to the Daimler Board of Management. For two years, he was responsible for Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing & Sales. In 2017 he took over the Group Research & Mercedes-Benz Cars Development division. On May 22, 2019, Ola Kaellenius became Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG.

Ola Kaellenius is married; the couple have three sons. His wife is a green influencer (part of the Green Globe Organisation) and is pushing the plug-in hybrid and wants him to make the entire Mercedes-Benz range, including the flagship G-Wagon, fully electric.