SAP technology chief resigns due to ‘inappropriate’ behavior

The software company SAP unexpectedly loses its Chief Technology Officer. Manager Jürgen Müller apologizes for “inappropriate behavior” at a company event – ​​and announces his resignation.

SAP's technology chief is stepping down early. Jürgen Müller will be leaving the software company at the end of September, the company announced. Müller and the supervisory board have mutually agreed on his departure.

“Resignation is the best thing for the company”

“At a previous company event, an incident occurred in which I behaved inappropriately,” explained Müller. He regrets that he acted rashly and sincerely apologizes to everyone involved. His behavior did not reflect the values ​​at SAP, said Müller. “I take full responsibility and think that my resignation is the best thing for the company.”

When asked, the company and a spokeswoman did not provide any details about the incident. The business newspaper Handelsblatt reported that Müller had “inappropriately approached” a female employee at an event a few weeks ago. Other people witnessed the incident. An internal investigation was carried out. According to information from SAP employees, executives described the separation as “unavoidable.”

In the group's statement, Chairman of the Supervisory Board Pekka Ala-Pietilä thanked Müller “for his significant achievements” and wished him all the best for his future. Müller joined the company in 2013 and had been a member of the Executive Board since 2019. His contract was actually supposed to run until 2027. Recently, there had already been several changes in the Executive Board of the DAX company.

Tasks are initially distributed

Michael Ameling, head of the BTP Foundation at SAP, will temporarily take over the majority of Müller's tasks. The security and cyber security area will be temporarily managed by cloud board member Thomas Saueressig, SAP announced.