Some big news from Germany earlier today, Lars Hinrichs (pictured right), founder and current CEO of the European equivalent of Linkedin, XING, is stepping down. He will be replaced early next year by the current head of EBay Germany Dr. Stefan Groß-Selbeck (pictured below).
During a brief transition phase, Groß-Selbeck will be cooperating closely with Hinrichs and will gradually take on the responsibilities involved. Hinrichs will apparently continue to support the company in an advisory capacity whilst Groß-Selbeck focuses further on expansion, a broader range of services and the internationalization of the company.
Groß-Selbeck is an academic of the highest order with a good deal of experience. He holds an MBA from INSEAD, worked for the Boston Consulting Group leaving to join ProSiebenSat1 Media AG. Since 2004 he has been in charge of leading EBay Germany, EBay’s second largest market outside of the US.
Hinrichs posted a blog post earlier today explaining “After five exciting and successful years, I’ve decided to dedicate more of my time outside of my commitment to XING to new entrepreneurial challenges. Now I’m able to concentrate once again on that which matters to me as an entrepreneur: developing new ideas and giving them life by means of entrepreneurial spirit.”
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Good luck Lars, he’s on twitter by the way.
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