In family businesses, succession is usually settled. The children automatically follow their parents and take over the business. Not so at SIXT, Germany's largest car rental company. As part of the CEO Leadership Series of the TUM School of Management, Chengguang Li, Professor of Strategic Management at TUM Campus Heilbronn, welcomed Alexander Sixt. They talked about how he made his way — via detours — into the executive leadership of the globally operating mobility provider, and why countercyclical investments in times of crisis are his key to long-term success.
The lecture hall and the adjacent rooms on the Bildungscampus were filled to the last seat. And the large turnout was worth it, because in Alexander Sixt one of the most influential CEOs had come to Heilbronn. Since he joined the company in 2009, the company has been able to more than quadruple its revenue, to just under EUR 4.3 billion most recently in 2025. The professor, too, is a satisfied customer of the company: "It is an unspeakably great pleasure for me to welcome Alexander Sixt here today."
Even during the journey back in time to his youth, it became clear to the students that this is no classic manager: he recounted at the outset that he grew up in a rural area of Munich and mostly spent his weekends on his grandparents' farm. He completed his Abitur in Munich, before finally completing his studies at ESCP in Paris, London and Berlin, with a focus on Corporate Finance & Accounting. Joining the family business was by no means predetermined for Alexander Sixt. His father Erich Sixt instilled in him and his brother the principles of freedom and responsibility early on. He gave his sons the freedom to find their own path in life, without having to feel obliged to one day join the family business. Nor did he regard the company as something that had to be passed on merely by virtue of family membership. The shared path was not to arise from expectation or tradition, but from one's own conviction and from what proves right in life and for the company.
After graduating from ESCP, his first professional stop was in investment banking at Deutsche Bank, in the area of Mergers & Acquisitions. He subsequently worked in restructuring at Roland Berger.
The Move to SIXT
When the financial crisis confronted the entire industry with major challenges, Sixt decided in 2009 to take the step into the company. He was responsible for the cost and efficiency program for the subsidiary SIXT Leasing. He subsequently took over Group Strategy in 2011, then Group Purchasing, the global technology division and the Human Resources department, and was finally appointed to the Management Board in 2015. For Alexander Sixt, challenges are always opportunities as well: "We have made something out of every crisis, always emerged from them stronger, and made countercyclical investments precisely during these crises." Thus SIXT — by then already as CEO of the Group — took over, for example during the coronavirus crisis when the rental business almost came to a standstill, decisive airport concessions of a competitor in the USA in the course of insolvency proceedings. Today these stations contribute significantly to US revenue, which Sixt has been able to more than triple since the coronavirus crisis, to now more than USD 1.5 billion and more than a third of Group revenue.
Part of SIXT's success is also betting on the right technological trends: "Our company develops the majority of our software ourselves — my father began writing the first rental-contract programs himself back in the 1960s, and even today this is part of our DNA and a key differentiating factor." Today, cloud-based systems and artificial intelligence are firmly established: "I am fascinated by the possibilities that AI offers us and by the fact that it enables managers like me to dive in actively and without detours into the analysis of problems at an unprecedented level of detail, and to solve them independently on one's own. This accelerates our thinking and our actions many times over — first and foremost in oneself."
The automotive industry, too, faces upheavals: "Mobility will undoubtedly be electric. The goal is clear; only the path there and the time it will take are not yet sufficiently clear." The prerequisite for a successful ramp-up, he said, is among other things a powerful charging infrastructure, which is still lacking in many places. As a further trend he sees autonomous driving, which will continue to gain importance in the coming years, in Germany as well. SIXT's business model, he said, is not thereby endangered, but will instead become even faster and more effective.
Leaders Are Developed
Of course, Prof. Li and Alexander Sixt also discussed a topic that was of particular interest to the students: recruiting. Sixt revealed: "In job interviews, I always want first and foremost to get to know the person and what has shaped them. You have to try to look a little behind the façade, and to do that I am at times happy to be somewhat provocative, in order to draw applicants out of their shells." Candidates should bring curiosity — with three exclamation marks — a willingness to change, and a clear focus. Developing leaders from within the company is also of great relevance at SIXT: "The industry demands a great deal of experience and understanding," he reports. One example: Nico Gabriel, today a Management Board member and Chief Operating Officer (COO), began his career at SIXT as a trainee in 2004. But even when a career is successful, he advises his listeners: "Roles, titles and successes are only borrowed for everyone, including myself — it is important to remain very humble and to always dedicate oneself to the cause."
For Alexander Sixt personally, the values of sport are also of great relevance. This is also reflected in the company itself, where a large share of executives play or have played competitive or club sports. A great deal can be learned from sport for everyday working life, Sixt is convinced — discipline, the unconditional will to win, the ability to ask for feedback and to process it positively, team spirit, and dealing with setbacks. His advice to the students: stay curious, don't let setbacks discourage you, and be ready to take on responsibility.
The CEO Leadership Series will be continued in the winter semester. All dates can be found on the website: https://tumceoseries.de/