Werner Wenning turns 80

From his usual seat at the BayArena, Werner Wenning has hardly missed a home match for the Black and Reds in decades. “When I go to the stadium, I am first and foremost a fan,” he said in December 2023 in an interview with Werkself-Magazin. Wenning described the 5–0 victory over Werder Bremen, with sealed the Bundesliga title just under six months later, as “the finest day in the club’s history”. But it was also a special day for him personally. He had been waiting more than 60 years for this success. The euphoria and joy, the fans celebrating exuberantly – for him, these were “very moving moments that will stay with me forever”. We can now wholeheartedly wish Werner Wenning, a Leverkusen institution, as many more experiences like that as possible on his 80th birthday.

Already as a 10-year-old, he cheered on the Werkself in the wooden stands at the old Stadion am Stadtpark, walking almost five kilometres from his home in Opladen. A defining moment in his passion for football was the 1954 World Cup final in Bern, which he watched with his father in a pub. The emotional reactions of the people to Germany's first World Cup title had a big impact on him, Wenning once told the Rheinische Post.

relationship based on trust

Having played football himself for BV Opladen 01 as a child, he has always been wholeheartedly committed to Bayer 04, ever since the club’s days in the Regionalliga and Oberliga West. "Perhaps no one else at the club has such a tremendous sense of loyalty to the club and such an incredible knowledge of every player, even from the distant past,” said former Bayer 04 managing director Michael Schade, speaking about Werner Wenning, with whom he worked for many years not only at Bayer AG but also, later on, for around 12 years on the shareholder committee of Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH.

Wenning took over the chairmanship of this body for a second time on 3 December 2010, having previously led the shareholder committee betweeen 1999 and 2002. In this role, he has always maintained very close, regular contact with CEO Fernando Carro and managing director sport Simon Rolfes. “It is a relationship built on a great deal of trust,” says Wenning, whose word carries the greatest weight as chairman of the shareholder committee . Throughout his professional career, he's always attached great importance to creating an environment characterised by a stable, resilient relationship of trust. His philosophy: “Leadership means being a role model for staff – being fair and transparent. It means taking responsibility and inspiring staff to commit to the cause.”

from apprentice to chief of global company

Wenning, who was born in Opladen on 21 October 1946, had to assume responsibility from a young age. His father died when he was 14 years old. To earn extra money for the family, he worked in a greengrocer as a teenager, packed sacks of potatoes, delivered the parish newsletter for the parish where he was an altar boy, and helped out at a paint shop during the school holidays. It was this upbringing that ensured he never lost touch with reality later on, long after he had become one of Germany’s most respected tycoons. Without a school-leaving certificate or a university degree, Wenning forged an extraordinary career that defied all the norms. “He belongs to a dying species and is one of the last managers who – particularly as a non-graduate – have worked their way up step by step within one and the same company,” wrote Focus magazine about Wenning in 2017.

If it had been up to his mother, he would have started an apprenticeship at the tax office. “She wanted her boy to do a proper job,” Wenning recalled in an interview with the Rheinische Post. Well, he chose a different path. And he would ultimately achieve far more than just 'a proper job'. His career at Bayer began in April 1966. After secondary school and graduating from commercial college, the then 19-year-old began an apprenticeship as an industrial management assistant with the company. As a trainee, his first assignment was in production: Wenning had to clean hides with chemicals and process them with a circular blade in the leather chemistry department. “We were meant to get a taste of real life.” Following a one-year trainee programme in finance and accounting and a further year in the group’s internal audit department, the company sent him to Peru as early as 1970. In Lima, he established the finance and accounting department of the newly founded subsidiary Bayer Industrial S.A. and headed it until 1975.

Wenning later described the period in Peru, where his wife Ursula also gave birth to the couple's two daughters, as one of his most formative experiences with Bayer. “Even as a young man, I had to make a lot of decisions. We learnt Spanish quickly so that we could settle in well locally. At the same time, I was able to fulfil a promise I’d made to my wife: to show her the world.” In total, he worked in Spanish-speaking countries for 15 years, most recently in Barcelona from 1992 onwards. There, he took over as managing director of Bayer Hispania Industrial S.A. and assumed the role of country spokesperson for Spain. Things continued to progress quickly: in 1996, Wenning was appointed head of the Group Planning and Controlling division; in 1997, Bayer AG appointed him chief financial officer; and in April 2002, he was finally appointed CEO, succeeding Manfred Schneider.

It was in this new role that he attended the Champions League final between Bayer 04 and Real Madrid in Glasgow on 15 May 2002. It was another match he recalled with great fondness in an interview with bayer04.de. At half-time, while in the VIP stand, he exchanged a few words with the then King of Spain, Juan Carlos, who had expressed his amazement at the Werkself’s strong performance. “It was an unforgettable, wonderful evening," he said. "You could feel the tension in that marvellous Hampden Park. Everyone associated with Bayer 04 was truly proud of the determination and joy that this team had once again demonstrated in Glasgow. Later on, while abroad, I repeatedly found that many people remembered this final. Bayer 04 certainly gained many, many fans worldwide through its European performances during the 2001/02 season.”

Manager of the year 2007

When Werner Wenning took the reins at Bayer in 2002, the company was in a difficult situation. The new CEO made “significant strategic adjustments”, as he put it in an interview with Focus. In practice, this meant, among other things, that the portfolio was systematically refocused on the areas of health, nutrition and high-quality materials. Precisely because Wenning felt a sense of duty to his company’s long history, he carried out a far-reaching restructuring of the group. His guiding principle was: “If you want to preserve many things, you have to change some. That's why a willingness to embrace constant change is a fundamental prerequisite for lasting success.” 

In 2007, Wenning was voted 'Manager of the Year' by a panel of experts from manager magazin. “He has succeeded in strategically putting Bayer back on the path to success,” it said in the explanation. The down-to-earth Leverkusen native, who was just as happy to chat with factory gatekeepers as he was with board members of other companies, and who enjoys eating bratwurst and drinking Pilsner on tap, is certainly regarded not only as assertive, but also as open to criticism and willing to compromise. When the group – also in 2007 – planned to demolish the Bayer Cross and instead project it as a digital, oversized illuminated sign onto the Bayer Tower, which still stood at the time, this met with strong resistance from the public. The driving force behind the protest were Leverkusen supporter groups. As part of the ‘The Cross Must Stay’ campaign, they collected over 21,000 signatures, which they handed over to Wenning and the group’s executive board. They were eventually persuaded and the cross on the B8 remained in place.

staying out of the limelight

Wenning led Bayer AG as CEO until September 2010. From 2012 to 2020, he was chairman of the supervisory board. He's also been part of several other supervisory boards, including Siemens AG, Henkel KGaA, Evonik Industries AG and Deutsche Bank AG. He was also vice-president of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) as well as president and vice-president of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) for many years.

Wenning has helped to shape almost a third of Bayer's 160-year company history. He owes the company a great deal. "Bayer gave me the opportunity to get to know other countries and cultures as well as impressive personalities. It always entrusted me with new tasks with increasing responsibility. My family always comes first, of course, but Bayer was also home - my secondary residence, so to speak."

A clear set of values guided him throughout his personal rise. “My guiding principle has always been: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’,” the Catholic stated in the Rheinische Post in 2020. “It is my deepest conviction, which also stems from my faith. Respecting others, across all levels of the hierarchy – that is the foundation of mutual trust.” 

As chairman of the Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH shareholder committee, Wenning rarely seeks the limelight. He adheres to the rules of good corporate governance and stays out of the public eye, he explained in an interview with Werkself-Magazin in December 2023. “Operational responsibility lies with the management. The shareholder committee has other duties.” 

His outstanding expertise and experience as a manager, as well as his knowledge of football, have been invaluable to Bayer 04 for over two decades. Wenning once said that an unwavering determination to succeed has always been his driving force. Virtues such as diligence, humility and modesty remain important to this devout Christian and grandfather of four to this day.

Wenning will resign from the shareholder committee on 31 December 2026 and hand over the chairmanship of the control committee to Wolfgang Nickl from 1 January 2027. But one thing certainly won't change: Wenning will continue to live out his passion for the Werkself from his usual place at the BayArena.

Happy birthday, dearest Werner Wenning!