René ObermannManaging Director of Warburg Pincus Deutschland GmbH, Co-Head of Europe

René Obermann, based in Berlin, is Co-Head of the firm’s European activities, and Head of Warburg Pincus Deutschland GmbH. René is actively involved in two major Warburg Pincus fund investments, serving as Vice-Chairman of 1&1 Ionos Holding SE, the leading European web hosting provider, and as Director of Inmarsat, a satellite network provider. In April 2020, René was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors at Airbus SE, where he previously served as a Non-Executive Board Director. He was also a member of various company boards including E.On, Spotify, and Telenor. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus as an investment partner in 2015, he was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ziggo BV in the Netherlands (2014), and beforehand, he was CEO of Deutsche Telekom AG from 2006-2013. He joined the group as Managing Director of T-Mobile Germany in 1998, and was promoted to run its mobile division “T-Mobile International” between 2002 and 2006. Between 2007 and 2013 he also served as Vice President of Bitkom, Germany’s IT industry association. René began his career whilst at the University of Münster in 1986, when he founded a distribution company for telecommunication services, and equipment which was acquired by Hutchison Whampoa in 1991. He remained as Managing Partner, and served as CEO between 1993 and 1998. Under his leadership, the company became one of the first virtual mobile network OPERATORS (MVNO) in Germany. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the French Légion d’honneur.