The end of March was the beginning of a very happy and well-deserved retirement for Otto International CEO’s Michael Dumke. After almost 11 years of spearheading significant growth and changes in OI that have left the company more people-focused, responsible, and digitally oriented, Michael had decided that he was now ready to start his “permanent holiday”.
Michael’s history with OI and the Otto Group stretches back much farther than his time as CEO. Since starting as an OI trainee in Hong Kong in 1990, he has also worked in our offices in Bangkok, Jakarta and Milan, and he was briefly Managing Director for fellow Group company Eddie Bauer International. Under his leadership OI’s turnover has developed significantly, with the last two years being the most successful in the company’s history.
Over the last 11 years Michael has made great efforts to place customers and people at the centre of everything we do. This was most notably achieved by the implementation of our Key Account structure, which has fostered collaboration between locations and allowed teams to focus on individual customers’ specific needs.
Michael also oversaw the formation of two new service-oriented subsidiaries: Astra Supply Chain Services and featuring LIMITED. Together they represent our focus on transparency, sustainability, and digitalisation, which he instigated and pursued vigorously.
On March 31 we hosted a global virtual Farewell Event for our CEO which over 800 colleagues attended. It began with remarks from Otto Group Board Member Sergio Bucher who recounted anecdotes from over the course of Michael’s long history with OI shared by other colleagues. He also thanked Michael for his strong leadership during the pandemic.
Then came Michael Dumke himself. He first discussed both his own and his family’s journey and shared that what he will miss most are the people. He then thanked everyone for their hard work, as OI’s successes in recent years are just as much all of ours as they are his.
After an interactive quiz where participants tried to guess interesting facts about Michael, our Corporate Officers came together to give them their personal farewell gift. Finally, we shared a video made by the whole company and raised a glass in celebration!
Bon Voyage Michael: We wish you all the best for your new adventure.
