It was a fleeting performance: After just six months in office as CFO of Thyssenkrupp, Jens Schulte is moving back to the Rhine-Main region, or rather to Deutsche Börse. It remains to be seen exactly when this will happen. As of last Thursday, the boards of the Essen-based Thyssenkrupp group had not yet discussed the resignation of their new all-purpose weapon.

Schulte has undoubtedly succeeded in springing a surprise. Nobody can be happy about it. In his short time at Thyssenkrupp, the 53-year-old has managed to earn the respect of all stakeholder groups. This is in stark contrast to Group CEO Miguel López, who had already thoroughly alienated IG Metall and the workforce after just a few months in office. The key points paper on the reorganisation of the steel division, which recently saw the light of day, probably bears Schulte's signature above all. He was not exposed to personal attacks and hostility as a result.

Schulte's departure weighs particularly heavily on Siegfried Russwurm, Chairman of the Supervisory Board. He had guided his former Siemens colleague to ThyssenKrupp, knowing that the no-nonsense, sober-minded financier complemented the robust, pragmatic CEO perfectly. Despite the surprise coup, Russwurm raves about Schulte in the warmest tones, and has signalled his understanding of his desire to move on to a company in the top stock market league. However, the narrative only works to a limited extent.

Schulte commented in the summer that he was attracted by the most complex transformation story that the German industry currently has to offer. Perhaps he has now realised what a monumental task Thyssenkrupp faces, and that he perhaps lacks the right tools. It also seems strange that less than a fortnight ago, Schulte was persuaded to take on the role of interim Chief Human Resources Officer in addition to his duties as Chief Financial Officer, including responsibility for the Apex performance programme. At that time, his change might have been already apparent.

Russwurm must now find new heads for the vacant positions on the Executive Board as quickly as possible. However, the queue of applicants is unlikely to be too long, as every seasoned manager knows that this is a suicide mission at Thyssenkrupp. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board is running out of time, and the upcoming reorganisation cannot be delayed.