Retiring at 90: Paul Gauselmann says goodbye

The ‘king of vending machines’ goes into well-deserved retirement at the age of 90. After 67 years at the helm of his own company, Paul Gauselmann is bidding farewell to the Merkur Group's top management. But what prompted the successful entrepreneur to stay with the gaming group for so long?

As of 1 October 2024, Paul Gauselmann will no longer be the CEO of the Merkur Group. The company announced this a few days ago in Espelkamp, North Rhine-Westphalia. The successful gaming entrepreneur is thus stepping down from the top management of the Group and now (finally) has time to enjoy his well-earned retirement. It was only in June of this year that we reported that the 90-year-old had donated five million euros to the town of Lübbecke through his company.

‘Time to put my life's work in younger hands’

In the press release published on 27 September, Paul Gauselmann explained that he had always used his energy for the benefit of the Merkur Group. Now, however, the time has come for a generational change, so Gauselmann has resigned from his position as Spokesman of the Management Board as of 1 October.

His successor will be 48-year-old Lars Felderhoff, CFO of the Merkur Group. Manfred Stoffers, Chief Marketing Officer, and Jürgen Stühmeyer, Chief Sales Officer, have been appointed as Felderhoff's deputies.

Paul Gauselmann is visibly optimistic about the future of his Merkur Group:

‘Now it's time to hand over my life's work to younger hands. (...) I am very happy that this trio is taking the helm. It consists of excellent leaders who know the company inside out’.

For some time now, Peter Gauselmann has been keen to reorganise the situation in his company, at the latest when he reaches the age of 90. It was only in January of this year that the billion-dollar gaming company changed its name to the Merkur Group. Until then, the company was still called the Gauselmann Group.

Generational change at another level too

Also on 1 October 2024, 68-year-old Michael Gauselmann took over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board from Manfred Grünewald. The 68-year-old son of the founder will also take over the Management Board and the chairmanship of the Gauselmann Family Foundation.

Paul Gauselmann can now (finally) enjoy his well-earned retirement. The entrepreneur only celebrated his 90th birthday on 26 August this year. In this context, Gauselmann made the provocative statement in a press release that gambling is not addictive.

Image source: https://merkur.group/presse/meldungen-und-neuigkeiten/pressemitteilungen/2024-09-26-generationswechsel-bei-der-merkur-group.html (Pressebild)