I / Frankfurt June 4, 2007Juergen Schrempp, the former head of DaimlerChrysler who masterminded the tie-up of the German and US auto makers nine years ago, stands to pocket up to euro 100 million ($134 million) from the break-up of the group, a newspaper reported today.Schrempp could earn about euro 50 million on his share options in the group when loss-making Chrysler is sold, the business daily Handelsblatt calculated.Since Schrempp announced his resignation from the group in 2005, the price of DaimlerChrysler shares have risen by nearly 90% to more than euro 68, not least because of the sale of Chrysler.And if the share price continues to rise to around euro 100, which was the price at the time of the merger in 1998, Schrempp's share options could be worth as much as euro 100 million, the newspaper said.While the tie-up was originally marketed as a "marriage made in heaven," and seen as a launch pad for Daimler's dreams of becoming a global power, the combination very quickly turned sour.DaimlerChrysler's new CEO, Dieter Zetsche, finally drew a line under the investment that turned into a financial disaster last month, by agreeing to sell Chrysler to private equity firm Cerberus.
