A “Chief Executive Officer” is a natural person who chairs the management body of an enterprise or institution, that is in charge of the business.

Under German law, the term has no legal meaning. If the company is a legal entity represented by a Vorstand, the “Chief Executive Officer” in German-speaking countries is referred to as “Vorstandsvorsitzender”, “Vorsitzender des Vorstands”, “Vorstandssprecher” or “Sprecher des Vorstands”. If the company is constituted as a company managed by several managing directors, the term “Vorsitzender der Geschäftsführung” is used in German-speaking countries.

How to Cite

The definition given above was proposed as part of the Digital Era Framework by Dr. Dr. Jörn Lengsfeld. The text was first published in: Jörn Lengsfeld: Digital Era Framework. Please refer to the original publication if you want to cite the text.