BASF Leadership Shakeup: Two Department Heads to Be Replaced on January 1, 2025!

On November 14, 2024, the official website of BASF announced two key personnel changes:

Dr. Thomas Kloster, Head of Basf's Specialty Chemicals Division, will assume leadership of the Petrochemicals division in Ludwigshafen starting January 1, 2025. He replaces Mr. Hartwig Michels, who is nearing the end of his career.

Dr. Thomas Kloster was born in Germany in 1971 and was educated at the University of Mannheim and the University of Waterloo in Canada. He received his PhD from the University of Mannheim Business School in 2002. Prior to joining BASF in 2001, Dr. Kloster held positions at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm in Frankfurt.

Lena Adam, Senior Vice President, Fuels & Lubricants Solutions, will succeed Dr. Thomas Kloster as President, Specialty Chemicals.

Lena Adam, born in Cologne, Germany in 1982, joined BASF in 2001 through the company's International Business Trainee programme. She received a diploma in Business Administration from Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society in 2005 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina in 2006. Ms. Adam has over 15 years of experience in BASF's Agricultural Solutions business unit. Since 2022, she has been responsible for leading the global business unit Fuels and Lubricants Solutions, which is part of BASF's Performance Chemicals division.