Henkel was born on March 14, 1940, in Hamburg. After completing a commercial apprenticeship and studying at the University of Economics and Politics, he joined IBM in 1962. Following several years abroad in the USA, Asia, and France, he became Chairman of the Management Board of IBM Germany in ...
Henkel was born on March 14, 1940, in Hamburg. After completing a commercial apprenticeship and studying at the University of Economics and Politics, he joined IBM in 1962. Following several years abroad in the USA, Asia, and France, he became Chairman of the Management Board of IBM Germany in 1987, Vice President of IBM Corporation in 1989, and in 1993, Head of IBM Europe, Middle East, and Africa. From early 1995 to the end of 2000, he was President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), and from 2001 to 2005, President of the Leibniz Association.
Today, Henkel teaches as an Honorary Professor at the University of Mannheim and is a member of the supervisory boards of Continental/Hannover, SMS/Düsseldorf, and usedSoft/Zug, Switzerland. Together with Roman Herzog and others, he works in the “Convention for Germany.” He is an active member of Amnesty International and is a highly sought-after speaker and talk show guest.