Martin Essl

Martin Essl

Martin Essl is CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of bauMax Group. In 2007, he founded the Essl Social Prize, an annual international award for social initiatives that offers sustainable support to those who help people in need. Mr. Essl first joined the Schömer bauMax group in 1984 as a Management Assistant where he built a controlling and cost accounting system and developed an enterprise resource planning system. He also served as the Managing Director and Vice-Chairman of the Management Board of the Schömer bauMax Group from 1989 until 1999.

Mr. Essl is a member of the Federal Association of the German DIY, building and garden specialist stores; and a member of the Board of EDRA (European DIY Retail Association). As CEO of bauMax, he was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in 2006 and also as one of the best employers in 2008. In 2005, Fortune Magazine rated bauMax as one of the ten top workplaces in Europe. Mr. Essl graduated from the Handeslakademie (Higher Secondary Business School) in 1982.