Michael Schmidt has over 30 years of experience across international executive roles in the chemical and oil industries. As a result of successively holding professional and leadership roles across a range of functions he has very broad experience. In addition, he has successfully led several restruc- tures and transformation projects. His most recent corporate role was as the CEO of BP Europe SE. He holds a master’s degree in business administration.
Michael Schmidt uses his compelling interpersonal skills combined with his broad entrepreneurial ex- pertise and rich experience across a variety of roles to support clients. He is familiar with the daily de- mands faced by leaders in global organizations – be they entrepreneurial, interpersonal, or personal in nature.
Michael started his professional career in the coatings division of BASF. After several years in the in- ternational controlling department, he was put in charge of a business unit that he restructured suc- cessfully so that it could be sold in an asset swap. He then was appointed commercial MD for all refin- ing and petrochemical activities of Veba Oel. After BP took over Veba Oel in 2002 the respective BP activities were added to his responsibilities. In 2005 he was appointed to the main board of directors of Deutsche BP and of BP Europe as CHRO. As of 2007 he was the CHRO Europe for BP. This role saw him successfully lead a variety of optimization and restructuring programs including material changes to the operating model of BP Europe. He was a co-founder of “TalentMetropole Ruhr”, a leading regional educational initiative and became a D&I champion. In 2012 he was promoted to CEO of BP Europe and held this role until the end of 2016 when he retired from a full-time operational role. In addition to his business roles, he also represented BP in public bodies and served as the president of the Oil Industry Association. He currently serves as the president of the British Chamber of Commerce in Germany. He is also an active advisor to a variety of non-profit organizations and foundations.
Michael has been married for over 30 years and has two grown-up children. He has been the local chapter president of Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft in his hometown Münster. An active supporter of a range of political, business, and societal causes, he’s an avid golfer and enjoys reading and travelling.