Five Members of the WHU Community Make Capital’s 40 Under 40 List

The German financial and economic world waits in anticipation every year to see who will make it onto Capital’s Top 40 Under 40. The magazine’s economic experts select who they believe to be the country’s most prominent and talented figures in business. Whether active in politics, management, or otherwise, they have all made a name for themselves—and they have done so before their 40^th birthdays. This year’s list is divided into four categories, and members of the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management community are present in all: Professor Fabiola H. Gerpott (“Society”), Verena Hubertz (“Politics”), Janek Kraus (“Management”), Dr. Annika von Mutius (“Entrepreneurship”), and Cihan Sügür (“Management”).

“I’m thrilled to have made it onto this year’s Top 40 Under 40,” said Professor Gerpott (Chair of Leadership). “This honor is more than a mere recognition of my work to date. It’s also motivation for me to continue producing fact-based and practically oriented research with passion.” Capital held an awards ceremony in Berlin in mid-November. “I met several inspiring figures there with whom I talked about current societal challenges, as well as about new approaches to solving them. What a great opportunity to help actively design tomorrow’s working world and leadership culture!”

Professor Fabiola H. Gerpott

Fabiola H. Gerpott is an expert in (self-)leadership, diversity management, and organizational behavior at WHU. She is committed to ensuring that diversity is more highly valued by managers and employees alike. Her research focuses on how empirical data can be used to help people shape the future of work in humane and productive ways. 

Verena Hubertz

Verena Hubertz was first active in this legislative period as a representative for the SPD in the German Bundestag. She found immediate success in her political career her first time in the race, claiming a constituency seat in her electoral district Trier; today, she is deputy chairwoman of the fraction. Upon earning her master’s degree from WHU in 2013, she, alongside classmate Mengting Bönsch (née Gao), co-founded the Berlin-based start-up Kitchen Stories. She departed the company in 2020 in order to dedicate her time fully to her political duties. Since then, she has been recognized as a leading expert on topics relevant to start-ups and entrepreneurship.

Janek Kraus

WHU alumnus Janek Kraus completed his bachelor’s degree as part of the school’s 28^th cohort. Together with his uncle Daniel Kraus, he manages Wikinger Reisen, the business their family started in 1969. Today, the company is a market leader in the planning of trips abroad centered on hiking and other outdoor activities. Social and ecological responsibility and sustainable travel are at the core of their business. 

Dr. Annika von Mutius

Dr. Annika von Mutius earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from WHU in 2016, 2018, and 2021 respectively. She then went on to co-found EMPiON, a tech-based start-up centered on human resources, with classmate Dr. Larissa Leitner. The company is working to automatize the headhunting process by quantifying company values and cultures and is actively developing a robo-advisor for the qualified worker market. In 2012, Dr. von Mutius was already recognized as one of “Germany’s 15 Most Important Women in AI” by manager magazin.

Cihan Sügür

Cihan Sügür completed WHU’s Part-Time MBA Program in 2022 and set out for a career with car manufacturer Porsche, where he was initially responsible for the development of the company’s digitalization strategy. Today, he is an associated partner at its tech-focused sister company MHP. In addition to his role there, Mr. Sügür is an investor at Heartfelt Capital, a venture capital firm in Berlin.

- “Das sind Deutschlands Top 40 unter 40,” as published in Capital (paywall)

- These WHU alumni had made it onto previous editions of the Top 40 Under 40 list.