Jurgen Schrempp
The Man Behind
DaimlerChrysler
On an August day in 1999, Jurgen Schrempp, the DaimlerChrysler Auto Baron, found himself indulging in his favorite recreational activity: mountain climbing. He was descending a sheer wall of the 3,905 meter Ortler mountain in the Italian alps, when he got stuck. Flailing, he was unable to find a foothold or toehold. He was attached to mountaineering expert Reinhold Messner, the first man to climb Everest without the help of oxygen. Schrempp asked Messner what would happen if he jumped. Messner replied that he would catch him, and lower him down. Messner afterward marveled, ?So he jumped.?
Jurgen Schrempp has taken similar leaps throughout his 30 plus year career with Daimler. However, as a youth no one would have guessed that he would lead such an ambitious career. He was born into the small German university town of Freiburg to a university clerk. During his high school years, he too often indulged his love of skiing and dancing, and dropped out school at the age of 15. In response to his father?s urgings to learn a trade, young Schrempp joined Daimler as an apprentice mechanic.
At 18 years of age, he met his future wife, 19 year old
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