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Famous German Shareholder Thanked For Not Getting Naked At Daimler Meeting

Daimler’s annual meeting had a slightly amusing moment this year, after the chairman thanked one of the company's smaller bondholders for not appearing in front of the audience in his “birthday suit.”
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Photo: Daimler AG
We are referring to Wilm Diedrich Müller, who is a well-known German shareholder. Media reports estimate that he is a shareholder in about 100 companies in the country, and his presence is almost certain at annual meetings and occasional gatherings.

Mr. Müller is locally famous for his occasional pranks, which can range from wearing two pairs of glasses simultaneously, to asking to be greeted with a handshake by the entire board when he shows up at a meeting.

This year, Wilm Diedrich used his allotted speaking time to criticize the automaker’s board for not inviting him to appear in what he called “species appropriate attire.” He was referring to presenting himself naked in front of the board, which is something that Wilm decided not to attempt.

Manfred Bischoff, Daimler’s Chairman, has returned to the microphone to thank the previous speaker for not putting his “understanding of species-appropriate attire” into action on the stage.

The company official indicated that he and the broad majority of people present at the gathering do not share Wilm Dietrich’s view of what is right to wear in public, Automotive News reports.

This year’s meeting of Daimler shareholders took place at Berlin’s CityCube convention center, and about 6,000 people attended the event.

Every owner of stocks in a German company has the right to participate in these meetings and even pose questions to management. Activists often buy stocks to do such things, but Mr. Diedrich Müller is not one of them, and he even stated that he does not like to cause trouble.

Last year’s Daimler shareholders meeting did not go as well as the 2017 edition, as two unnamed participants started an argument over complimentary sausages, and the police had to be called to calm them.

Instead, he is just someone who seems passionate about owning shares in numerous companies and attending their meetings. According to Sueddeutsche Zeitung, he attends several meetings a day, and he only misses some because he is in transit from or to another gathering.

His story includes inheriting a furniture company and a job at the German railway, but his passion is attending board meetings.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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