Filip Krulis, currently senior vice president of Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST), will take over as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Freudenberg Chemical Specialities SE & Co. KG (FCS), following the retirement of Hanno D. Wentzler, at the end of December 2020. Krulis’ appointment is effective January 1, 2021.

Wentzler is a member of the Freudenberg Group Executive Council of Freudenberg Chemical Specialities based in Munich, Germany. He will continue to support Freudenberg as an advisor after his retirement in December.

He is also a member of the board of the German Lubricants Association (VSI). 

Wentzler led the Freudenberg Business Group Chemical Specialities since its foundation in April 2004. He joined the Freudenberg Group in 1986. 

After several successful management positions, Wentzler assumed the role of CEO at Klüber Lubrication KG in 1994, the nucleus of the business group for chemical specialities with five widely independent acting business units which was established in 2004. The business group has a total group turnover of more than EUR1.1 billion (USD1.3 billion). 

Between 2006 and 2016, he assumed additional responsibility as Freudenberg regional representative for Greater China. Wentzler led several global Freudenberg programs, among them the corporate social responsibility initiative called “e²”. 

Wentzler belongs to the fifth generation of the Freudenberg family and has followed an international career path. After completing his MBA at Boston University, he joined the investment bank J.P. Morgan, holding positions in New York City, U.S.A. and Frankfurt, Germany. He joined the Freudenberg Group in 1986 to take up a leadership role in marketing and sales at Freudenberg Simrit in Kufstein, Austria, before moving to Freudenberg’s Seals and Vibration Control Technology department in Weinheim, Germany. Most recently, Wentzler was chairman of the board at Klüber Lubrication, a position he held for nine years.

Filip Krulis joined the Freudenberg Group in 1998 as product development engineer at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST). After different global management responsibilities within FST in ltaly, Germany and U.S.A., he became senior vice president of the Oil Seals Powertrain & Driveline division of FST in 2014. 

Krulis holds a Master degree in Aeronautical engineering (Dipl.-Ing.) from “Politecnico di Torino”, ltaly. In July 2020, he relocated to Munich in order to become familiar with the FCS organisation, its business model and operations.