About

Formerly a partner with Clifford Chance and Sidley Austin, Georg Rützel joined GE in 2009 and has held various positions within the Group since then; alongside his latest role as general counsel for global growth organisation in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, he occupied the same position for GE Gas Engines and for GE Energy in Germany. In October 2017, he will take on a new role in charge of the 26-person legal department of wind turbine manufacturer Senvion, where he is set to continue his record of in-house legal excellence. Rützel mentions a number of successes when discussing his career: ‘Perhaps my top highlight was the success I had in localising a heavily US-influenced, go-to-market model for Germany. We had to create new contracts, new standards, new local approval levels for risk decisions, and could prove the results in form of substantial revenue increases over one to two years’. Highlighting that he has been effective in a diverse range of areas, Rützel also mentions ‘leading internal compliance and cartel law investigations and seeing how these investigations were supported by top management of the global business units’ as another personal highlight. He is known to have contributed to increased legal awareness in surrounding business units, through ‘specially tailored in-person training sessions for non-legal staff on legal matters, contract negotiations and other areas’. This action, which was favourably noted by senior management, led to Rützel’s team being labelled a ‘contributor to and promoter of commercial success’, instead of simply a guardian.