Jochen Zeitz

Early life

Studying in Germany, France, and the United States, Zeitz graduated from the European Business School in International Marketing and Finance.

Career

Zeitz began his professional career with Colgate-Palmolive in New York and Hamburg. Zeitz joined PUMA in 1990 and in 1993 was appointed Chairman and CEO becoming the youngest CEO in German history to head a public company at the age of 30. Zeitz then spearheaded the worldwide restructuring of PUMA, which was in financial difficulties at the time, and implemented a long-term development plan that saw PUMA’s share price gain around 4000 percent in 13 years, from 8.6 Euros in his first year as CEO to an all-time high of 350 Euros when the majority stake of the company was acquired by Kering in 2007. Zeitz managed to turn PUMA from a low priced, undesirable brand into one of the top 3 brands in the sporting good industry.

In 2008 Zeitz introduced PUMAVision, an ethical framework defined by the four key principles of being Fair, Honest, Positive and Creative as applied to all professional behavior, business procedures and relationships throughout and outside of PUMA. Zeitz conceived the Environmental Profit & Loss Account (E P&L) and coined the term and in May 2011 he announced PUMA’s Environmental Profit & Loss Account that puts a monetary value to a businesses use of ecosystem services across the entire supply chain. From 2010 to 2012, Zeitz became CEO of the Sport & Lifestyle division and Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) of Kering, then a Director of Kering and Chairman of the Board’s sustainable development committee.

Philanthropy

In 2008 Zeitz founded the not-for-profit Zeitz Foundation of Intercultural Ecosphere Safety to support creative and innovative sustainable projects and solutions that balance conservation, community development, culture, and commerce (the "4Cs") in a quadruple bottom line approach, promoting an inclusive, holistic paradigm of conservation that enhances livelihoods and fosters intercultural dialogue while building sustainable businesses.

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA)

The Zeitz Collection was founded in 2002. Since 2008 it has committed to becoming one of the most representative collections of contemporary art from the African continent and its diaspora. It currently includes work from artists such as Owusu-Ankomah, Kudzanai Chiurai, Marlene Dumas, Rashid Johnson, Isaac Julien, Glenn Ligon, Julie Mehretu, Nandipha Mntambo, Wangechi Mutu, Chris Ofili, Andrew Putter, Nicholas Hlobo, Kehinde Wiley, and Hank Willis Thomas. The Zeitz Collection also bought 85 works at the 2013 Venice Biennale, including the award-winning installation at the Angola pavilion by artist Edson Chagas, a series of photographs by Zanele Muholi from the South Africa pavilion, and three large sculptures by Michele Mathison in the Zimbabwe pavilion. The collection is currently held and exhibited in spaces in Kenya, Spain, Switzerland, and South Africa.

Scheduled for occupation in late 2016, the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), in partnership with the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, will be located in the historic grain silo in Cape Town's Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. The museum will have 9,500 square meters (102,000 square feet) of space over nine floors, including 6,000 square meters (65,000 square feet) for displays. In 2014, Thomas Heatherwick was chosen to design the conversion of the 1920s granary into a museum, including 80 galleries, 18 education rooms, a rooftop sculpture garden as well as storage and conservation areas, a restaurant, a coffee shop, and bookstores. The official public opening of the museum is expected to take place in September 2017.

Writing

In 2010, Zeitz co-wrote and published “Prayer, Profit and Principles – Monk and Manager in dialogue” with Anselm Grün, a Benedictine monk. The book has been translated into 15 languages and covers topics such as: sustainability, the economy and prosperity, culture, values, success and responsibility. In 2014 Zeitz co-wrote and published "The Breakthrough Challenge: 10 Ways to Connect Today's Profits with Tomorrow's Bottom Line" with John Elkington.

Honours and awards

Zeitz has received the Strategist of the Year three times from the Financial Times, "Entrepreneur of the Year", “Trendsetter of the Year” and “Best of European Business Award 2006″. In 2004, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit of Germany. In 2009, Zeitz became Honorary Warden of Kenya by the Kenya Wildlife Service. In 2010, the German Sustainability Foundation gave Zeitz an award for Germany's most sustainable future strategies. Zeitz was named a Conde Nast Traveler “Visionaries 2012” and one of Fast Company’s “10 Most Important Players at the Rio +20 Conference”. Zeitz received the 2012 German Image Award, the 2013 Banksia International Award and the Visionary Award for the 2013 Travel + Leisure Global Vision Award. In 2015 Jochen Zeitz was awarded the Special Advocacy Award for Responsible Capitalism. The award ceremony was held at Lancaster House in London, and presented by Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Same year, Zeitz was ranked #18 of "The World's Top 100 Compassionate Business Leaders" by Salt Magazine and awarded for his advocacy of Responsible Capitalism by FIRST Magazine. In 2016, the Zoological Society of London honoured Zeitz as a ZSL Conservation Fellow.