Jochen Hanebeck

AI will become the enabling technology of the 21st century, much like electricity. We can’t afford to be left behind.

— Jochen Hanebeck

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Overview

Jochen Hanebeck
Born	1968 (age 57–58) Dortmund, West Germany
Citizenship	German
Education	Electrical engineering (solid-state electronics)
Alma mater	RWTH Aachen University
Occupation(s)	Engineer, business executive
Employer	Infineon Technologies AG
Known for	Chief executive of Infineon Technologies AG; focus on decarbonization and digitalization
Title	Chief Executive Officer
Term	2022–present
Predecessor	Reinhard Ploss
Board member of	Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Infineon Technologies Austria AG

👤 Jochen Hanebeck (born 1968) is a German electrical engineer and business executive who has served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Infineon Technologies AG since 1 April 2022, after more than two decades in senior roles at the company and its Siemens predecessor. An engineer by training with a specialization in solid-state electronics, he has spent his entire professional career at Siemens and Infineon, rising through manufacturing, product and division leadership roles to become Chief Operations Officer (COO) in 2016 and CEO in 2022. Under his leadership, Infineon has sharpened its strategy around what he describes as the twin megatrends of "decarbonization and digitalization", expanded its global manufacturing footprint and delivered record revenues and profits in the 2023 financial year.

🌐 Semiconductor leadership. Over a career spanning nearly three decades, Hanebeck has been closely associated with Infineon’s transformation from a former Siemens division into one of the world’s leading suppliers of power semiconductors and automotive electronics. He played a central role in the integration of International Rectifier (2015) and Cypress Semiconductor (2020), oversaw major wafer fabrication projects in Austria and Malaysia as COO, and later announced Infineon’s largest single investment – a planned €5 billion "Smart Power Fab" in Dresden – soon after assuming the top job. He frames Infineon’s mission as enabling energy-efficient mobility, renewable power and digital infrastructure through advanced chips, arguing that semiconductors are "pacemakers of progress" in the 21st century.

⚡ Decarbonization and digitalization. As CEO, Hanebeck has emphasized long-term structural growth areas such as electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, industrial automation and connected devices, linking these markets to the broader goals of cutting carbon emissions and advancing digitalization. He has also been an advocate for artificial intelligence, both as an enabling technology in Infineon’s products and as a tool for internal design, testing and manufacturing processes, urging Europe not to "lose track" in global AI competition. Colleagues and observers have characterized his style as that of an "engineer’s engineer": analytical, collaborative and focused on substance, with a preference for continuity and steady operational improvement over flamboyant public positioning.

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Early life and education

🎓 Origins and schooling. Hanebeck was born in 1968 in Dortmund, an industrial city in Germany’s Ruhr region, where he developed an early fascination with how technical systems work. After completing secondary school and mandatory military service, he decided to study electrical engineering, a choice he later described as driven less by labour market considerations than by genuine enthusiasm for the subject.

📚 RWTH Aachen University. He enrolled at RWTH Aachen University, one of Germany’s leading technical institutions, where he specialized in solid-state electronics at a time when only a small fraction of his year pursued that path. Reflecting on this period, he recalled that only a few dozen of some 800 freshmen ultimately chose solid-state electronics and summarized his philosophy with the maxim that doing what one enjoys generates motivation and ultimately good results. He has credited RWTH Aachen with providing "the best education in electrical engineering you could get at a German-speaking university" and has remained closely connected to the institution as an alumnus and guest speaker.

🧑‍🏫 Academic influences and networks. During his studies, Hanebeck was influenced by demanding professors such as Walter Engl, whose examinations were reputedly among the toughest in the curriculum, and by intensive study groups that produced lasting friendships. Decades later, he has spoken fondly of reunions with his Aachen classmates and maintains that these personal networks, alongside solid technical training, were formative for his later management career. As a senior executive, he has continued to promote engineering as a career choice, supporting collaborations between Infineon and RWTH Aachen to encourage young people into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

🧪 First steps in semiconductor research. Immediately after graduating in 1994, Hanebeck joined Siemens AG’s semiconductor activities and was seconded to IBM’s renowned research complex in East Fishkill, New York, where IBM, Siemens and Toshiba were jointly developing 256-megabit DRAM chips. He has described this early assignment as a stroke of luck and a "jump start", allowing a newly minted engineer to work in what he viewed as the "Mecca" of semiconductor research alongside highly experienced colleagues in a cutting-edge development programme. The experience gave him early exposure to global collaboration in the chip industry at a time when Germany’s domestic semiconductor sector was still modest in scale.

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Career

Early career at Siemens and Infineon

🏭 Return to Germany and early leadership roles. In 1997, after his stint at IBM in the United States, Hanebeck returned to Germany to head DRAM technology development at Siemens’ new semiconductor fabrication facility in Dresden, a site that would become central to Europe’s "Silicon Saxony". When Siemens spun off its semiconductor operations as Infineon Technologies AG in 1999, he was appointed assistant to the company’s Chief Operating Officer, gaining broad exposure to manufacturing, logistics and strategic decision-making at an early stage of his career.

⚙️ Chip card, security and microcontrollers. During the early 2000s, Hanebeck held various management posts within Infineon’s Chip Card & Security division, dealing with semiconductors for payment cards and secure identification systems, before moving into the Automotive, Industrial & Multimarket segment, where he led operations and later the Microcontrollers business line. These rotations exposed him to different parts of Infineon’s portfolio and to the operational challenges of scaling production in markets ranging from consumer applications to safety-critical automotive systems.

Automotive leadership

🚗 President of the Automotive division. In 2008, Hanebeck was promoted to Division President of Infineon’s Automotive business, which supplies microcontrollers, power semiconductors and sensors to car manufacturers worldwide. His tenure coincided with rapid growth in automotive electronics, as vehicles adopted more sophisticated powertrain, safety and driver-assistance systems. Under his leadership, Infineon expanded its product range and deepened relationships with global carmakers, consolidating its status as a key supplier to the automotive industry. Colleagues later credited this period with strengthening Infineon’s strategic position in one of its most important end markets.

🔁 One-company career. Looking back on this phase, Hanebeck has emphasized that he repeatedly found new challenges within the same organization, moving from research to operations and then to division-level responsibility rather than changing employers. He has stated that whenever his learning curve in a role began to flatten, another opportunity within Siemens or Infineon emerged, helping to explain why he spent his entire career at one company and building what he calls a "long game" perspective focused on continuity and long-term value creation.

Chief Operations Officer

📦 Global manufacturing and supply chain. In July 2016, Hanebeck joined Infineon’s Management Board as Chief Operations Officer, taking responsibility for worldwide manufacturing, supply chain, logistics and quality at a time when the company was producing tens of billions of chips per year. As COO, he oversaw the expansion of Infineon’s front-end and back-end production network, including the company’s first front-end fabrication plant in Asia – a 200-millimetre wafer fab in Kulim, Malaysia – and a new 300-millimetre power semiconductor fab in Villach, Austria, completed ahead of schedule.

🤝 Post-merger integration and growth. Hanebeck also played a key role in integrating major acquisitions that reshaped Infineon’s scope and geographic footprint. He was part of the leadership team steering the integration of U.S. power semiconductor specialist International Rectifier, acquired in 2015, and later oversaw operations during the integration of Cypress Semiconductor, a microcontroller and connectivity provider acquired in 2020. These transactions expanded Infineon’s portfolio in power electronics and connected systems, and observers credited smooth operational integration as one factor behind the company’s profitable growth in the late 2010s and its ascent into the global top tier of semiconductor producers.

Chief Executive Officer of Infineon

👔 Appointment as CEO. On 25 November 2021, Infineon announced that Hanebeck would succeed long-serving CEO Reinhard Ploss as chief executive with effect from 1 April 2022, under a five-year contract running to 2027. The board highlighted his contributions to Infineon’s profitable growth in multiple leadership roles, while Ploss described him as a competent and reliable colleague with deep industry knowledge. Commentators saw the decision as a signal of strategic continuity, elevating an internal candidate who had spent his entire career at the company.

🏗️ Investment strategy and Smart Power Fab Dresden. Early in his tenure, in November 2022, Hanebeck presented an updated target business model and announced plans for Infineon’s largest single investment to date: roughly €5 billion for a new 300-millimetre "Smart Power Fab" in Dresden, intended to produce power semiconductors for automotive and industrial applications. He argued that expanding capacity in Europe for power electronics used in electric vehicles, renewable energy systems and data centres was essential to support structural growth in these markets and to strengthen European technological sovereignty, in part supported by instruments such as the European Chips Act. The project complemented earlier investments in Villach and Kulim, reinforcing Infineon’s position as a leading global manufacturer of power semiconductors.

📈 Financial performance under his leadership. In the 2023 financial year, which ended in September 2023, Infineon reported record revenues of €16.31 billion, up about 15% year-on-year, and net profit of €3.14 billion, compared with €2.18 billion in the prior year. Growth was driven in particular by strong demand from automotive and industrial customers, which offset weaker markets in some consumer segments. Hanebeck described the results as an initial confirmation of the more ambitious course launched shortly after he became CEO, pointing to the focus on structural growth areas and disciplined investment in additional capacity. Over this period, Infineon’s share price outperformed a number of semiconductor peers, something analysts linked to its strong positioning in power and automotive chips.

🤖 Strategy, culture and artificial intelligence. Beyond capacity expansion, Hanebeck has placed emphasis on organisational agility and culture. He launched an internal programme known as "SPIRIT", aimed at encouraging employees to set ambitious targets, clarify responsibilities and make timely decisions, in order to keep a 50,000-plus-person organisation fast and innovative. He has also championed the use of artificial intelligence both within Infineon and in the markets it serves, arguing that AI is becoming an enabling technology comparable to electricity in its importance. In interviews he has urged Europe to redouble efforts in AI and semiconductor development to remain competitive globally, while still advocating for international cooperation through partnerships such as the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC) joint venture in Dresden.

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Financials and wealth

💶 Executive compensation. As CEO of a DAX-listed technology company, Hanebeck receives a substantial compensation package that is moderate by international semiconductor industry standards. Public analyses for 2023 place his total annual remuneration in the approximate range of €2.4 million to €3 million, including a base salary estimated around €1.0 million to €1.4 million and variable components linked to performance. In comparative terms, this level of pay has been noted as significantly below the average total compensation of chief executives at similarly sized semiconductor firms, particularly in the United States.

💰 Share ownership and net worth. A significant proportion of Hanebeck’s remuneration is delivered through long-term incentive plans and share-based components, subject to a guideline that he hold Infineon stock equivalent to at least 150% of his gross annual base salary. While he is a multi-millionaire executive, public filings do not indicate unusually large personal shareholdings or external business interests, and analyses suggest his total wealth derives primarily from salary and equity awards at Infineon rather than entrepreneurial exits. This financial profile, combined with a one-company career, contributes to an image of a relatively low-key corporate leader focused on operational performance rather than personal enrichment.

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Personal life

🏡 Family and private persona. Despite holding a prominent corporate office, Hanebeck maintains a comparatively low public profile in his private life. He is married and in his mid-50s, but he keeps details of his family out of the media, mentioning them only in general terms. Colleagues describe him as analytical and understated, someone who remains "an engineer at heart" even as CEO, and who values longstanding friendships, such as regular reunions with his university peers from Aachen.

🌱 Lifestyle and sustainability values. Hanebeck’s personal behaviour reflects the climate and sustainability priorities he promotes professionally. He has spoken about preferring to travel by train rather than by plane where feasible and about adopting low-carbon solutions in his private life, such as driving an electric vehicle and converting his home heating away from fossil fuels. Commenting on youth climate movements, he has remarked that if he were a teenager today he could imagine joining the Fridays for Future demonstrations, a statement that underlines his sympathy for climate activism and broader environmental concerns.

💬 Relationship to technology and communication style. In interviews, Hanebeck has expressed genuine enthusiasm for explaining how semiconductor technology can make everyday life safer, easier and more environmentally friendly, while emphasising that technology remains a means to an end and must ultimately serve people. He is known for a straightforward communication style that prioritises technical substance and clarity over showmanship, and has advocated authenticity in leadership; one public discussion of his management philosophy was even titled "Be authentic; substance matters".

🤝 Leadership and mentoring. Having progressed from engineer to executive, Hanebeck often highlights the importance of combining deep expertise with people leadership. He advises young professionals who aspire to management roles to build strong know-how in at least one key technical area, then broaden to others while developing leadership skills "from leading people to leading leaders". Within Infineon, he is known to mentor younger managers and has argued that finding the right people for the right roles is a decisive success factor, insisting that "people make the difference" in competitive technology markets.

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Controversies and challenges

🌐 Supply shocks and geopolitical risk. Hanebeck’s tenure as CEO began amid a global semiconductor shortage that hit the automotive industry particularly hard. Infineon had to ramp up capacity while allocating scarce supply among customers, and the company accelerated investments in additional production, including the Villach fab and the planned Dresden Smart Power Fab, to address structural demand. The outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022 posed further challenges, including potential disruption to supplies of specialized gases such as neon; Hanebeck has noted that Infineon mitigated this risk through second-sourcing strategies and by setting up internal crisis teams to protect employees at its site in Lviv.

🗳️ Public positions and political climate. While not personally embroiled in scandals, Hanebeck has occasionally entered public debate on economic and social issues. In 2024 he joined other German business leaders in warning that rising far-right and anti-immigrant sentiment could undermine Germany’s attractiveness for skilled workers and entrepreneurs, arguing that openness and an innovation-friendly climate are vital for the country’s economic future. These interventions have drawn praise from advocates of liberal economic policies, but also criticism from some political quarters that object to corporate leaders taking public stances on such issues.

🏦 Capital expenditure and cycle risk. Some analysts have questioned whether the scale of Infineon’s planned capital expenditures, including multi-billion-euro fab projects, could expose the company to overcapacity risk if semiconductor cycles turn sharply downward or if electric vehicle adoption slows. Hanebeck has countered that the investments are targeted at structural growth markets such as power electronics for green energy and e-mobility and are often supported by public funding, arguing that under-investing would risk ceding market share to global competitors, particularly in Asia. He has nonetheless been candid that downturns in segments such as electric vehicles can weigh on demand, warning in 2024 that a recovery from an EV slump was "not yet in sight".

🏢 Organisational culture and change. Managing cultural change in a rapidly growing global company has been another challenge. With more than 50,000 employees worldwide, Infineon risks bureaucracy and slow decision-making; SPIRIT, the behavioural programme launched by Hanebeck, is intended to counter this by promoting ownership and speed. While some long-standing staff initially feared the programme might remain at the level of slogans, management reports indicate that teams across regions have adopted its principles and that decision processes have accelerated, though the long-term impact will only become clear over time.

♻️ ESG focus and ethical record. Infineon has long ranked well on sustainability indices, and under Hanebeck the company has reaffirmed its aim to become carbon-neutral by 2030 and to source 100% green electricity, targets it reports having already reached for power consumption. The company estimates that its products enable substantial emissions savings in use – for example, by increasing the efficiency of electric drivetrains and renewable power systems – relative to the emissions from its own operations. No significant environmental incidents or governance scandals have been linked to his tenure, and an earlier bribery affair involving a former Infineon executive in the mid-2000s predates his time in top management and did not implicate him personally.

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Other activities and interests

📆 Loyalty and longevity. Hanebeck is a notable example of a one-company career in the technology sector, having joined Siemens’ semiconductor division in his mid-20s and remaining through its transformation into Infineon for nearly thirty years. He has said that he "always had [his] eye on the next one or two stations" within the firm and that opportunities to take on new responsibilities kept his work "exciting" without the need to move to other employers. This long tenure has given him deep institutional memory and credibility with employees, who have seen him advance from engineering roles to the top position.

👥 Team building and ecosystem support. Beyond his internal responsibilities, Hanebeck serves as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Infineon Technologies Austria AG and participates in industry and policy forums, including the Munich Security Conference. Under his leadership, Infineon has supported initiatives such as the Ignite Next programme aimed at fostering European deep-tech start-ups in Dresden, reflecting his view that strengthening the broader innovation ecosystem is crucial for Europe’s competitiveness.

🌍 European industrial strategy and cooperation. Coming from a German engineering background but with substantial international experience, Hanebeck has advocated a balance between strengthening Europe’s semiconductor base and maintaining global cooperation. He has been involved in efforts such as the planned European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC) joint venture in Dresden, alongside partners including TSMC, Bosch and NXP, which aims to bring advanced chip fabrication capacity to Europe while preserving globally integrated supply chains. He has repeatedly argued that Germany alone cannot achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency and that alliances within Europe and with Asian and American partners remain essential.

🔥 Motivations and outlook. In discussing his personal motivations, Hanebeck has said that "making life easier, safer and greener" is both Infineon’s corporate mission and a guiding principle for his own work, linking commercial success with societal impact. He has also encouraged younger professionals to take calculated risks and proactively assume responsibility, drawing on his own early decision to specialise in semiconductors at a time when the prospects for that industry in Germany were uncertain. Observers often depict him as combining pragmatic realism about industry cycles and geopolitical risks with a measure of idealism about technology’s ability to address challenges in energy, mobility and digital infrastructure.

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