Mister Spex: Tobias Krauss takes over as CEO
- 17. Mar. 2025
- Current Chairman of the Supervisory Board to lead the company effective from 1 April 2025
- Nicola Brandolese becomes new Chairman of the Supervisory Board
- Restructuring and transformation that have begun will be consistently continued
Change of leadership at Mister Spex: At its meeting today (17 March), the company’s Supervisory Board resolved to appoint Tobias Krauss as CEO of Mister Spex. He will take up his new role on 1 April 2025. Krauss has been a member of the Supervisory Board since 2020 and has been Chairman of the Board since July 2024. He will resign from the Supervisory Board on 31 March 2025; it will be taken over by the current Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Nicola Brandolese. Tobias Krauss succeeds Stephan Schulz-Gohritz, who has taken over the CEO role on an interim basis since August 2024 in addition to his role as CFO. Schulz-Gohritz will remain CFO of Mister Spex.
Tobias Krauss comes from ABACON CAPITAL, where he has served as CEO since 2019 and was responsible for a portfolio of more than 50 investments. ABACON CAPITAL is one of the largest shareholders of Mister Spex. Krauss began his professional career at Porsche Consulting after studying economics at the Universities of Mannheim and Konstanz. This was followed by further positions, including as Chief Restructuring Officer at DAW, Germany’s largest manufacturer and distributor of paints and coatings, and as CEO at the industrial holding company Possehl Mittelstandsbeteiligungen GmbH (PMB). During this time, Krauss developed a restructuring approach based on lean management principles.
Nicola Brandolese, the incoming Chairman of the Supervisory Board, stated: “We are delighted to have identified Tobias as the perfect leader for Mister Spex. With his extensive expertise as a turnaround manager, he will accelerate the company’s transformation, steering it toward sustainable growth and the success it is destined to achieve. The entire Supervisory Board extends its sincere gratitude to Stephan Schulz-Gohritz for his leadership in initiating and overseeing Mister Spex’s transformation program over the past several months, laying the foundation for the company’s future success.”
“Mister Spex’s potential is enormous – and I look forward to realizing it together with a great team and our loyal shareholders. In my previous role as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I co-initiated the restructuring program and provided important impetus in terms of content. To pursue these impulses consistently as CEO and Chairman of the Management Board has appealed to me personally”, says Tobias Krauss. “We will lead Mister Spex into a profitable future. This year we are creating the basis for this.”
The “SpexFocus” program, launched in 2024, aims to sustainably increase profitability and ensure solid cash generation in the long term; to this end, the cost structure will be streamlined, the product portfolio optimized and the margin structure improved. As part of a systematic transformation, the restructuring seamlessly transitions into a continuous improvement process towards a lean and scalable organization.
Contact details for journalists:
Mister Spex Corporate Communication
press@misterspex.de
About Mister Spex:
Founded in 2007, Mister Spex SE (together with its subsidiaries, “Mister Spex”) is a multi-award-winning company that has become the leading digitally native omnichannel optician in Europe. Mister Spex has been at the forefront of the industry’s transformational shift, growing from a pure online player into a successful omnichannel optician with more than 7.1 million customers, 10 online shops across Europe and physical retail stores. A digital native, technology and innovation have always been an integral part of the company’s evolution, from 2D to 3D digital frame fitting tools to intelligent browsing functionalities. The focus of Mister Spex is to make eyewear purchase for customers an easy, transparent and fun shopping experience by combining a comprehensive and varied range of high-quality products with optician expertise and services through its customer service, own stores and an extensive network of partner opticians.
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