Ex-SAP CTO walks away with €7.1M payout after scandal

Criminal probe understood to have ended following settlement over 'inconsiderate' behavior

SAP paid former CTO Jürgen Müller €7.1 million ($7.5 million) after he left the German software company by mutual agreement in September last year.

Müller departed following an "incident" at a company event earlier in the year. At the time, SAP said its supervisory board had reached a "mutual agreement" with Müller for him to leave the company's executive board at the end of September.

In a prepared statement at the time, Müller said his behavior had been inappropriate. "I regret being inconsiderate and sincerely apologize to everyone affected. I recognize my behavior at that moment did not reflect our values at SAP."

Later, authorities confirmed that the investigation related to allegations of sexual harassment.

Reports from January suggest that Müller had reached a settlement and that the investigation had ended. The Register has asked public prosecutor Staatsanwaltschaft Heidelberg to comment.

In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, SAP documented its executive compensation. In addition to CEO Christian Klein receiving €19 million ($20 million) and Thomas Saueressig, board member for customer services and delivery, receiving €8.2 million ($8.6 million), the regulatory releases reveal total compensation to Müller of €7.14 million.

The filing said Müller had reached a mutual agreement with the supervisory board to end his employment at SAP effective September 30, 2024.

Also departing this year was Scott Russell, who resigned from his position of chief revenue officer on August 31, 2024. He reached a "mutual agreement" with the supervisory board to end his employment at SAP effective December 31, 2024. A severance payment for the remainder of his original term of appointment until January 31, 2027, totaled €12.6 million ($13.2 million), while his total compensation reached €21.5 million ($22.5 million).

Julia White also exited the role of chief marketing and solutions officer, effective August 31, 2024. Her severance payment for the remainder of her original term of appointment until February 28, 2027, reached €9 million ($9.2 million), while her total compensation for 2024 was €17.1 million ($17.9 million).

For 2024, SAP said its cloud and software revenue was €29.96 billion ($31.5 billion), within the range of earlier forecasts, while its operating profit exceeded the forecast range to reach €8.2 billion ($8.6 billion).

The value of SAP's shares has risen by approximately 50 percent in the last year. ®