Tom Enders

Thomas Enders (born December 21, 1958) is a German business executive who served as the chief executive of Airbus (formerly EADS, Airbus Group) from 2012 until 2019. Since 2019, he has been the president of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). Early life and education The son of a shepherd, Enders studied economics, politics, and history at the University of Bonn and the University of California, Los Angeles. He completed his doctorate in political science at the age of 28 on a scholarship of Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Career Enders started out his career with early work experience as an assistant at the German Parliament. In 1988, he worked as a researcher at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Bonn and at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London. Enders also serves as a Major in the German Army Reserve, and spent two years in the planning staff of the Federal Ministry of Defence from 1989 until 1991. Enders joined the marketing department of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace in 1991 and held several functions at DASA until he was promoted to head the defence and security systems business in the frame of the merger of EADS in 2000. In 2005, he was appointed co-CEO (first with co-CEO Noël Forgeard, then Louis Gallois), a role he relinquished in 2007 when the company modified its corporate governance, giving away with double-CEO and double-Chairman structures. As a result of the governance change, Enders was appointed CEO of Airbus, the Group's largest Division. As CEO of the commercial aircraft division, he was responsible for the A320neo launch in 2010, a sales success that forced Boeing to launch the 737 MAX.