Making Up For Lost Time

Michael Diekmann was born on December 23, 1953 in Bielefeld, German.  He earned his degree from Goettingen University studying law and philosophy.

Right out of university he established his own publishing business, Diekmann/Thieme in 1983. This company fit into the lifestyle he liked.  It produced travel guides and adventure books.  This meant that he was also out in the field travelling and doing outdoor adventures and writing about it.

By his own account he was making a living having published a number of books.  In 1988 he was frustrated with having to compete with the big publishing houses. It was also around that time that his wife told him to get a real job and handed him an ad for a job at Allianz in Hamburg.  He went for the interview and got the job in the insurance sales department at Allianz.

You could say he was a late starter in the corporate field since this was his first serious job and he was already 33 years old. Michael certainly made up for lost time.  Fifteen years into the job he wound up being the group chairman in 2003.  This was no easy achievement he was now leading the world’s biggest general insurer, the second-largest asset management company, and the third-biggest life insurer.

Many were surprised he got the top job.  He record though showed that he was the right man for the top post.  In several new positions he held he was faced with daunting work challenges which he overcame and made his business unit prosper.   When he headed Alliance’s Asia-Pacific Operations he supervised key acquisitions as well as led the operations through the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. He turned a failing division into a profitable one.

Michael was sent to America in 2000 and he had to manage around the “de-pegging” of Argentina and the 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. He was able to save the underperforming US Fireman’s Fund. He did this by aggressively cutting cost involving laying off thousands of employees.

When he took over Allainz in 2003 it was in deep trouble due to its $22.5 billion acquisition of Dresdner Bank in 2001.  Again he resorted to cost cutting ad workforce shrinkage and raised capital. Within 12 months of being the new CEO he returned Allainz to financial health.