West Germany’s Top Bank Appoints a New Chairman
Deutsche Bank has named Hilmar Kopper as its new chairman to succeed Alfred Herrhausen, who was killed in a terrorist attack Nov. 30.
Kopper, 54, had been widely mentioned as the most likely successor to Herrhausen to head West Germany’s largest bank.
Some analysts had predicted that he would be joined by a second chairman--a system that was in place until the retirement of F. Wilhelm Christians in 1988--but Kopper will be the sole chairman.
Kopper joined the board in 1976, where he focused on international commercial banking. In January, 1988, he took over most of Deutsche Bank’s investment-banking operations and was put in charge of its North American activities.
Recently, he played a key role in negotiating the $645-million takeover of Morgan Grenfell PLC in London, completed shortly before Herrhausen’s death.
Herrhausen was killed by a terrorist bomb as he was being driven to work from his home in Bad Homburg, about 12 miles north of Frankfurt. West Germany’s extreme-leftist Red Army Faction terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
