Prof. Dr. Jorg Sennheiser was recently presented with the coveted Deutsche
Grunderpreis 2015 (German Founders Award) in the Lifetime Achievement category
for his many years of service as head of Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG and
his commitment to entrepreneurs and start-up enterprises. Since 2002, the joint
initiative by the magazine stern, the Sparkassen savings banks, the broadcaster
ZDF and the car maker Porsche has presented the award to persons with exemplary
achievements in setting up and developing innovative and sustainable business
ideas and companies. The award ceremony is held every year at the ZDF studio in
Berlin.

The jury of the Deutsche Grunderpreis particularly praised the successful expansion
of what was initially a more nationally focused audio specialist into a globally
successful company, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.
Furthermore, the experts were impressed by Jorg Sennheiser’s prudent succession
planning and long-standing support for start-up enterprises. The Lifetime
Achievement award came as “a real surprise”, Jorg Sennheiser said. “It is a great
honour for me to see that the pursuit of perfect sound, which has accompanied me
throughout my entire life, is being recognised with this award.”

In 1982, he took over complete responsibility for Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co.
KG from his father. During his time as CEO of Sennheiser, he modernised the
structures of the company and introduced, among other things, job descriptions and
strategic planning for the entire company. Furthermore, he professionalised the
company’s financial accounting in order to prepare Sennheiser for its entry into the
global market. One of his most far-reaching and at the same time most successful
decisions was the carefully planned establishment of the company’s own sales
subsidiaries, starting with the opening of Sennheiser France – the first of now 18
sales subsidiaries worldwide. “As a result, we are closer to our customers and less
susceptible to crises,” he explained.

Like his father before him, Jorg Sennheiser also further advanced the technical
development of microphones and headphones, fully in keeping with the company’s
philosophy of the pursuit of perfect sound. “One must never look back,” he said,
“but must always initiate the next revolution at the right time.” He regularly spent
time with musicians in order to understand the wishes and needs of the customers
even better. As a result, his leadership resulted in numerous award-winning new
developments that offer a level of sound quality that even today never fails to
astonish the audio world.

Sennheiser stood down from his executive position in the business in 1996 to
become the “very active” chairman of the supervisory board. Now 70 years old, he
remained as chairman until December 2014, in the company that he had so
decisively influenced for almost 40 years. Today he is still on the board, continues
to give lectures and represent the family company on important occasions and, for
many years, he has been advising young acoustics specialists at the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology in Zurich on business start-ups. In addition, he supports
projects relating to all aspects of sound, such as the Pop Institute at Hannover
University of Music, Drama and Media, the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts or
the modernisation of Germany’s largest concert hall, the Kuppelsaal in Hannover.