Markus Braun

Markus Braun (born 1969) is an Austrian tech investor and digital entrepreneur. From January 2002 until June 2020, he was the CEO and CTO at Wirecard AG.[3]

For the Swiss handballer, see Markus Braun (handballer).
Markus Braun
Born1969 (age 50–51)
Vienna, Austria
NationalityAustrian
EducationTechnical University of Vienna
OccupationBusinessman
TitleFormer CEO and CTO, Wirecard
Term2002-2020
Parent(s)
Criminal details
ArrestedJune 23, 2020[1][2]

Education

Braun graduated from the Technical University of Vienna with a degree in commercial computer science,[3] and then went on to earn a PhD in social and economic sciences from the University of Vienna in 2000.[4]

Career

Braun started his career as a consultant at Contrast Management Consulting GmbH, a position he held until November 1998. Between 1998 and 2001, he worked with KPMG Consulting AG[4] in Munich.[5]

Wirecard

In 2002, Braun joined the management board of Wirecard AG and became CEO and CTO of the company.[4] Wirecard was one of the world's largest digital platforms in the area of financial commerce and is headquartered in Germany.[6] It was one of Germany's Top 30 most valuable companies[7] on the German stock market (DAX)[8] and has been ranked in the “Top 100 Most Innovative Growth Companies in the World” by Forbes Magazine.[9]

In 2017, Braun was reappointed as a CEO of Wirecard.[10] He responded to his reappointment by stating: "We will drive the digitization of payment processes using internet technology on a global level, and we will make Wirecard a global leader in this sector."[11] Much of what Braun has said was questioned long before Wirecard has admitted fraud in June 2020. In 2017, for example, Braun told investors that Wirecard was using the latest artificial intelligence technology to analyze data. However according to third parties, staff were instead cobbling together spreadsheets of customer information.[12] Braun owns more than 7% of Wirecard shares.[13]

In June 2020, Braun stepped down as CEO after a more than US$2 billion was found missing from the company accounts.[14] On 22 June, Braun was detained by German police "on suspicion of accounting fraud and market manipulation" after he had turned himself in. On 23 June, he was released on bail, set at 5 million Euros ($5.7 million).[15][16]. On 22 July, he was arrested again[17]

Positions

Braun has more than 15 years of experience in the digital payment industry[18] and is a regular speaker at industry related events[3] as well as different national and international media.[19][20]

According to Braun, in the next decade, the entire retail payment infrastructure will be replaced by technology merging all payment streams into a single, fully digital system.[21] Braun stated, that digitalization, if done right, would generate an increase in sales for the brick and mortar business similar to the expanding online commerce.[22] He considers cash to become an exception and says, that technology can never be justified by itself and can only be successful when it delivers visible value-added for customers[22] and merchants.[23]

Controversy

In 2020, after Wirecard had delayed announcing its annual financial statements on a number of occasions and had been advised by auditing firm Ernst and Young that there was insufficient evidence to prove the existence of bank balances of over €1.9 billion in trust accounts, Braun resigned and vacated his position as CEO.[14]

gollark: Yes, humans are bad and not good role models for robots/AGIs.
gollark: The eternal question.
gollark: Valentine's day will be filled with secret robots too.
gollark: You can hoard them, just not hoard CBs.
gollark: They remind me somehow of an ostrich.

References
  1. SPIEGEL, DER. "Staatsanwaltschaft lässt Ex-Wirecard-Chef Braun festnehmen - DER SPIEGEL - Wirtschaft". www.spiegel.de.
  2. Jung, Marcus. "Ex-Wirecard-Chef: Was Markus Braun jetzt droht" – via www.faz.net.
  3. "Markus Braun". DLD Conference. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  4. "Management: WIRECARD". www.wirecard.com. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  5. andrea.hodoschek. "Ein Österreicher als Fintech-Milliardär" (in German). Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  6. "Wirecard: a success story in the internet payment service providers market". www.groundreport.com. 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  7. "German tech companies hold their own". Handelsblatt Global Edition. 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  8. "Wirecard kicks Commerzbank out of DAX | DW | 05.09.2018". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  9. Kauflin, Jeff. "The World's Most Innovative Growth Companies 2017". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  10. "CFO Burkhard Ley verlässt Wirecard" (in German). Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  11. "Wirecard AG announces changes to and enlargement of management board". www.dgap.de. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  12. "Ex-Wirecard chief Markus Braun arrested". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  13. "Wirecard-Chef: Markus Braun ist Mastermind und Großaktionär bei Wirecard". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  14. "Wirecard CEO Markus Braun resigns". Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  15. "Former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun arrested". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  16. "Wirecard-Skandal: Ex-Firmenchef Braun gegen Millionenkaution auf freiem Fuß". heise.de. 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  17. "Ehemaliger Wirecard-Chef Braun wieder festgenommen". faz.net. 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  18. "Paris Fintech Forum 2019". parisfintechforum.com. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  19. Sabrina, Danielle (2017-06-12). "Corporate America Has Lost Control Of Your Wallet, Thanks To These Innovators". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  20. "Wirecard: "Unsere Bilanzen sind völlig in Ordnung"". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  21. WELT (2018-04-12). "Wirecard hofft auf Tod der Ladenkasse". DIE WELT. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  22. Klemm, Thomas. "Hightech aus Aschheim: Die cleveren Jungs von Wirecard". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  23. ""Wirecard wächst zehn Jahre stark"". Finanz und Wirtschaft (in German). Retrieved 2018-09-30.
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