Joachim Zahn
Professor Joachim Zahn (born
Zahn was the youngest of four sons of a Wuppertal Lawyer. He himself studied law at
Zahn's period at the helm was one of growth for Daimler-Benz. Between 1967 and 1976 passenger car output more than doubled, with an average annual growth rate of 6.9% during a decade when the overall growth rate of the German auto-industry was 2.3%.[1] The company's growth in the bus and truck sector outran that of the industry as a whole by an even greater margin.[1]
In 1973 he was awarded an honorary professorship by the regional government of Baden-Württemberg, giving rise to the misguided impression in English speaking countries that Germany's leading manufacturer of trucks and luxury cars was being led by an academic. He is better thought of as an expert in finance and taxation with a formidable and clear intellect, and a capacity to inspire affection and respect in colleagues.[2]
Remarkably, all four of the Zahn brothers from Wuppertal became captains of industry. This prompted banker Hermann Josef Abs to quip that there were so many teeth in the German economy that it was reasonable to speak of a complete bite.[2] ('Zahn' is the German word for 'tooth'.)