"In this day and age, employees, customers and shareholders expect strong leadership more than ever. They are looking for clear signs of stability — and rightly so. Confidence in a company's management and its ability to keep the company on course over the long term is essential.

"The current public discussion regarding the future management of Siemens is causing great uncertainty both internally and externally. A clear decision on this issue is expected. However, the Chairman’s Committee of the Supervisory Board informed me of its intention to postpone this decision once again.

"I consider this lack of clarity regarding the company’s management and my own mandate to be burdensome and unacceptable for the company and its employees. For this reason, I have decided to no longer be available for the extension of my contract. The Supervisory Board has requested that I be available until September 30. Of course, I will honor this request. We informed you about this yesterday.

"It has been a great honor for me to have served as President and CEO of this magnificent company for the last two years. At Siemens, we have been able to achieve extraordinary success as a business, and the company is now optimally positioned for the future. I thank all of those who contributed to this success.

"Siemens and the people of Siemens are very dear to me. I regret leaving a company that has been such a large part of my life over the last 20 years. However, Siemens must not be paralyzed — the company's ability to act must not be impeded. I hope my decision makes that possible."