04.09.2018
Optics Balzers mourns the loss of Alex Vogt
After a brief, serious illness, Alex Vogt, member of the Board of Directors and CEO of Optics Balzers AG, died unexpectedly at the age of 63. The company mourns the loss of a far-sighted entrepreneur, boss and friend. In consultation with Alex Vogt, the Board of Directors was recently able to take measures to ensure the consistency of the company's management.
Alex Vogt has managed and successfully developed the company over many years. "Today's company is shaped by the entrepreneurial initiatives of Alex Vogt. We are very grateful to him for this," says Christoph Studinka, Chairman of the Board of Directors, whose thoughts are primarily directed at the bereaved: "We would like to extend our sincerest condolences to his family and friends and wish them strength during this difficult time. We have not only lost a farsighted, proactive entrepreneur and colleague at work, but we also mourn the loss of a dear, longtime friend. We hope the bereaved will regain the joy for life and confidence that Alex radiated and shared with our company." Under Vogt's leadership, internationalization was driven forward as part of the consistent growth strategy, Studinka says. Two years ago, a modern production site was opened in Malaysia. Alex Vogt has always been keen to use this strategy to strengthen the European locations in Balzers, Liechtenstein, and Jena, Germany.
Constancy in Group Management
As the Board of Directors and the Executive Board of Optics Balzers announce, it was a personal concern of Alex Vogt after his illness had occurred suddenly that consistency in the management of the company is guaranteed at any time. "Together with the family, we hoped that Alex could defeat the aggressive disease," Studinka says. He explained that personnel decisions had already been taken in recent weeks together with Vogt in order to ensure consistency in the management of the company. At the end of August, Dr. Detlev Häusler took over the Group Management of Optics Balzers AG as CEO, for the time being on an interim basis. According to Studinka, Häusler will focus on the cross-location and cross-functional coordination and further development of strategic topics, including the further development of the production site in Malaysia. Häusler has already proven his leadership competence in the company and knows the branch. In the meantime, he has gained a lot of experience in various CEO and Board of Directors mandates: "We are grateful that Dr. Detlev Häusler was prepared to take on this important task.“
Management team strengthened at Balzers site
Dr. Stefan Pleier took over the management of the Balzers site a few weeks ago. His focus is on the successful implementation of current and new major customer projects. Pleier has many years of management experience in various companies and has been newly hired to strengthen the existing management team.
He was proud of the smallest optical components that will change the future: Alex Vogt, Member of the Board of Directors and CEO of Optics Balzers, died unexpectedly.
