BENTON HARBOR—Effective Jan. 1, 2020, Holger Gottstein will join Whirlpool Corp. as senior vice president of strategy and business development, as well as the company’s executive committee.
In this role, Gottstein will lead strategy and business planning processes for Whirlpool, including mergers and acquisitions, new business development, and other strategic initiatives. He will work across the organization, partnering with others to push the company’s digital consumer journey forward. Gottstein will be based at Whirlpool headquarters in Benton Harbor.
Said Gottstein: “Whirlpool Corporation is known as an industry leader, producing innovative products that make a difference in the lives of people around the world. I’m anxious to start contributing to that long-standing tradition.”
Gottstein joins Whirlpool from Boston Consulting Group, where he served as managing director and senior partner, and has held various leadership roles across Europe, Asia, and North America in the consumer and retail practice. He brings extensive expertise in digital and direct-to-consumer strategies, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, and performance improvement. Gottstein holds an MBA from Northwestern University, and a master’s degree in international business and cultural studies from the University of Passau in Germany.
Marc Bitzer, Whirlpool chairman and CEO, said Gottstein offers “decades of experience to our organization during an important time in our digital transformation journey. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve life in the home. Part of that includes aligning ourselves with relevant partners to ensure Whirlpool Corporation remains at the forefront of digital innovation for consumers.”
Whirlpool is the world’s largest major home appliance company, with approximately $21 billion in annual sales, 92,000 employees and 65 manufacturing and technology research centers in 2018. The company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, JennAir, Indesit and other major brand names in nearly every country throughout the world. More at http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com.