Before the Haenni meeting: Mintzlaff searched for CEO via headhunter

Oliver Mintzlaff has revealed details of the search for new CEO Tatjana Haenni. The Swiss national will take up her new post as CEO of Bundesliga club RB Leipzig from January 1, 2026. Red Bull CEO Mintzlaff had to give up the position at short notice in November 2022 following the death of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz and moved to the beverage group as CEO. The search for a successor was not on the agenda for a year because the Leipzig club was well positioned.

"It was important to find someone who would fit in with us. We wanted someone who would fit in with the city and be compatible with the management. With Tatjana, I had the feeling that it would fit, that the whole thing would be complete and fit into an existing very strong management," said Mintzlaff at the LVZ talk in front of around 300 guests in the dome of the publishing house of the "Leipziger Volkszeitung".

Successor search also via headhunter

The 50-year-old sports manager did not know Haenni, who is nine years older. "It was more of a coincidence that we met in New York through the NWSL," where Haenni works for the women's league. The fact that the Swiss will be the first woman in this position in German professional soccer did not play a role for him. During the search, which according to Mintzlaff was also conducted via headhunters in the meantime, the focus was always on expertise. "I look at who fits the profile perfectly. If it's a woman, perfect. If it's a man, it's a man," Mintzlaff emphasized.

Haenni is to "make RB fit for the future with an expanded management structure", he said in a club statement. The management team also includes Johann Plenge (Business), Florian Hopp (Administration) and Marcel Schäfer (Sport). Haenni was a Swiss international and also worked as a coach.

She has been one of the major driving forces in women's soccer for many years. She has held positions of responsibility at UEFA and FIFA and also helped organize the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany. She was once the first woman in the management of the Swiss Football Association. Haenni most recently took up her post as sports director at the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the USA on January 1, 2023.