No full takeover was needed. Two days after Hugo Boss opened the search for a new supervisory board chairman under Frasers pressure, the British retailer’s own chief executive has taken the seat, the clearest sign yet of Frasers Group’s influence over the board, achieved without ever completing a formal buyout.
Hugo Boss confirmed Wednesday that its supervisory board elected Michael Murray as chairman. Murray has served as chief executive of Frasers Group since 2022 and is the son-in-law of Frasers founder Mike Ashley; he has sat on the Hugo Boss board since May 2025. He succeeds Stephan Sturm, who said on Sept. 14 he would leave the board effective Oct. 15, remaining chairman only until a successor was elected or that date arrived, whichever came first. Murray’s election settled the question well ahead of that deadline.
Frasers first built a position in Hugo Boss in 2020 and added to it steadily for years before crossing Germany’s 30 percent mandatory-offer threshold in July, which forced a formal €38-per-share cash bid for the rest of the company. Hugo Boss’s boards rejected the offer as inadequate, backed by fairness opinions from Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, but the tender still drew acceptances from 17.62 percent of shareholders by the time its additional acceptance period closed on Aug. 13, lifting Frasers to 47.89 percent. Only in early September, weeks after the tender had closed, did Frasers disclose that it intended to keep buying toward 50 percent and beyond.
Sturm’s exit had been building for months. Frasers withdrew its support for him as chairman last December, and the two sides clashed repeatedly over dividend policy. His resignation statement pointed to “recent changes in the company’s shareholder structure” as reason for what he called an orderly transition
Both companies described the handover as continuity rather than upheaval. Murray said he looks forward to “building on the company’s strong foundation” together with colleagues on the supervisory and managing boards. Hugo Boss chief executive Daniel Grieder said the managing board intends to keep pursuing its existing course “with discipline, focus and clear commitment.”
Ashley has been open about why Murray, not himself, now fronts Frasers’ dealings with Hugo Boss. He has said the luxury brands Frasers works with see his son-in-law as the more palatable face of the group, describing himself as “Marmite” in comments to the Financial Times last month.
