One Danish woman and two Swedes join the Volvo board after Chinese Zhejiang Geely Holding Group after completing the acquisition of the Swedish carmaker from Ford Motor Co.
Chairman Li Shufu , founder and chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. Li was born in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, in 1963. He holds a bachelor’s degree in management engineering from Harbin University of Science & Technology, and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Yanshan University.
Li is vice chairman of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Li started his career in the refrigerator and refrigerator parts manufacturing business in 1986, switched to motorcycle manufacturing in 1993 and entered the auto business in 1997. Zhejiang Geely is one of China’s most successful private companies.
Vice Chairman Hans-Olov Olsson
Born in 1941, Olsson studied at Gothenburg University and started his career at Volvo AB in 1966.
He held many jobs at Volvo and was head of Volvo Cars North America when Volvo AB sold the car business to Ford Motor Co., retaining the truck business.
From 2000 to 2005, Olsson was chief executive of Volvo Cars. From 2005 until 2006, he served as senior vice president of global marketing for Ford.
During the acquisition talks with Geely, Olsson was a senior adviser to Zhejiang Geely’s investment bank Rothschild.
Stefan Jacoby , president and CEO of Volvo Cars.
Born in 1958, Jacoby studied at the University of Cologne. He began his career at Volkswagen AG and has held several senior positions at the company, in Asia and most recently in the United States as head of operations.
In 2001, Jacoby left VW to join Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in Europe but returned to VW in 2004.
Håkan Samuelsson
Born in 1951, Samuelsson has a master’s in mechanical engineering from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
Samuelsson started his career at the Swedish truckmaker Scania in 1977 and worked there until 2000 when he became head of MAN Nutzfahrzeuge, a subsidiary of the German truck company MAN AG. He rose to become head of MAN in 2005 but resigned in 2009, after Volkswagen AG had taken a controlling stake in MAN.
Herbert Demel
Born in 1954, Demel studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Vienna and earned a PhD in technical sciences. He worked at the Institute for Combustion Engines and Automotive Engineering for six years before moving to the private sector in 1984. He worked at Robert Bosch GmbH in Stuttgart, then at Volkswagen AG’s Audi division from 1990 to 1996. He headed VW’s operations in Brazil from 1997 until 2002.
In 2002, Demel became CEO of Magna Steyr, but was recruited in 2003 to be CEO of Fiat Auto SpA, a position he held for two years, before returning to the Magna Group in 2005.
Lone Fønss Schrøder
Born in 1960, Fønss Schrøder has a law degree from the University of Copenhagen and a master’s in economics from the Copenhagen School of Business.
She started her career at A.P Möller-Maersk A/S where she worked for more than 20 years. In 2005, she became president of Wallenius Lines, a provider of global factory-to-dealer transport solutions for the auto and other industries.
Winnie Kin Wah Fok
Born in 1956, Fok holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of New South Wales in Australia. She is a senior adviser at Investor AB. From 2001 until 2010, she was CEO and senior partner at EQT Partners Asia Ltd., which manages two private equity funds of $322 million and $545 million. She has more than 22 years of corporate advisory and investment experience and is a fellow of CPA Australia, an associate member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Freeman Shen, vice president of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.
Born in 1970, Freeman holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from South China University of Technology, an MBA from the University of Minnesota, and a master’s in engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. Shen started his career working for U.S. companies, including TXU Group, Eaton Corp and BorgWarner. He was president of BorgWarner China from 2004 to 2007.
From 2007 to 2009, he served as vice president of Fiat Group China, serving on the board of Fiat’s joint ventures and wholly owned companies in Chongqing, Hangzhou and Shanghai.
Shen joined Geely in December, 2009, as vice president of its overseas business.
