VW and Porsche find family squabbling is good for business
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The family drama between Porsche and VW continues. Last Friday, Oct. 24, Porsche and Volkswagen had another in what has been a series of difficult talks. With all the bad feeling between rival factions in the Porsche family and the sports car (and SUV) maker acquiring a controlling stake in VW, this has been a trying time in both parties’ histories.
The two main characters in this internal combustion opera are Wolfgang Porsche, grandson of the founder, and his cousin Ferdinand Piëch, who is named after the founder and is chairman of VW and owner of around 13% of the Porsche company. Herr Piëch is generally resistant to having his fiefdom encroached upon. But after a big family meeting the weekend before and according to a recent press release from Porsche, Piëch now “unreservedly supports the course of Porsche Automobil Holding SE in all points, and is fully and entirely behind the [company’s] chairmen.”
However, there was one conspicuous absentee from last Friday’s meeting: Piëch himself. So the drama continues, much to the benefit of VW’s market value. As soon as Porsche announced that it would raise its stake to 75%, the VW share price shot from €210 to €1,000. This blip made it the world’s most valuable company (beating ExxonMobil into second place) for a while, until trading ended with shares at €643. Which is still impressive, especially for a car company right now.
What are the odds on Piëch manipulating himself into being the head of a joint Porsche/VW operation?