KWS Extends CEO Felix Büchting’s Contract to 2032 Reinforcing Long Term Leadership and Strategic Continuity

KWS Extends CEO Felix Büchting’s Contract to 2032 Reinforcing Long Term Leadership and Strategic Continuity

(IN BRIEF) KWS has extended the contract of CEO Felix Büchting by six years, ensuring that he will remain in the role until the end of 2032. The decision was approved by the Supervisory Board of KWS SE, the company’s general partner, and reflects confidence in Büchting’s leadership and strategic contributions to the business. Since joining the Executive Board in 2019 and becoming CEO in 2023, Büchting has helped advance the company’s long-term strategy, including expanding its vegetable seed operations and reshaping the company’s portfolio. The contract extension also highlights KWS’s commitment to stability and continuity as a family-owned company with a long tradition in plant breeding and agricultural innovation. The announcement comes as KWS celebrates its 170th anniversary, reinforcing the company’s emphasis on combining heritage with future-focused leadership and sustained innovation in the global seed sector.

(PRESS RELEASE) EINBECK, 14-Mar-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — KWS has confirmed the extension of CEO Felix Büchting’s contract, reinforcing the company’s commitment to long-term stability and forward-looking leadership. At its latest meeting, the Supervisory Board of the company’s general partner, KWS SE, approved an early renewal of Büchting’s agreement, extending his tenure by six years beyond its original 2026 expiration date, through the end of 2032.

The decision reflects the board’s confidence in Büchting’s leadership and his contribution to the company’s strategic direction. Hagen Duenbostel stated that the early contract extension highlights the company’s core principles and the value placed on continuity in its leadership. During his time on the Executive Board, Büchting has played a key role in shaping the group’s strategic development, including expanding KWS’s presence in the vegetable seed market, refining the company’s broader corporate strategy and repositioning its portfolio for future growth.

KWS continues to position itself as a family-owned business guided by long-term thinking and independence. The company emphasizes its commitment to innovation in plant breeding and agricultural solutions while maintaining a governance structure designed to protect its long-term stability.

The extension of Büchting’s contract comes during a milestone year for the company, which is marking its 170th anniversary. The leadership decision reflects KWS’s approach of balancing tradition with future-oriented strategy, reinforcing the company’s ambition to maintain its innovative strength in the global seed industry.

Felix Büchting represents the seventh generation of the founding family behind KWS. He joined the company’s Executive Board in 2019 and assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer in 2023, guiding the company’s ongoing transformation and expansion into new markets and crop segments.

About KWS

KWS is one of the world’s leading plant breeding companies. Around 5,000 employees* in more than 70 countries generated net sales of around €1.68 billion in the fiscal year 2024/2025. A company with a tradition of family ownership, KWS has operated independently for 170 years. It focuses on plant breeding and the production and sale of seed for sugarbeet, corn, cereals, vegetables, oilseed rape and sunflower. KWS uses leading-edge plant breeding methods to continuously improve yield for farmers and plants’ resistance to diseases, pests and abiotic stress. To that end, the company invested approximately €350 million last fiscal year in research and development.

*excl. seasonal workforce

Media Contact:

Gina Wied
Head of Corporate Communications, Global Marketing & Communications
press@kws.com

SOURCE: KWS