The power balance at  VW has shifted and former CEO Ferdinand Piech is now well and truly out of the company. Piech sold most of his shares to his little brother, lawyer Hans Michel Piech.

Ferdinand Piech is part of the Porsche family, whose company Porsche SE owns 52% of VW’s voting shares, meaning that they have to be on board for company decisions to pass.

The former CEO owned 14.7% of Porsche SE, and it was those shares that he sold to his brother. A small portion of that (4.3%) was sold to other family members.

"This was a joint decision by the Porsche and Piech families," Hans Michel Piech told a German newspaper. According to him, the decision was made to prevent either side of the family (the Porsches and the Piechs) from owning too much of the company.

Hans Michel Piech, though, will now own much more of Porsche SE. Like his borther Hans Michel owned 14.7% of the company before the sale, meaning that he now controls 25.1%, and by extension wields more power at the VW Group.

The younger Piech currently sits on VW’s supervisory board, a position he has held since 2009. He also sits on the Porsche and Porsche SE controlling panels.

[source: Automotive News ]