Martina Butz, Hanau: Stadtwerke Hanau GmbH

Martina Butz (46) completed her Master of Mergers & Acquisitions law degree at Frankfurt School in 2012.

Since May 2019, Martina Butz has been the sole Managing Director of Stadtwerke Hanau GmbH. Previously, the licensed lawyer worked as authorised signatory and Head of Legal and Compliance Management at Frankfurt-based energy supplier Mainova AG. A mother of two children, she passed the examination to become a Chamber of Commerce and Industry-certified energy industry manager in 2010.

After your law degree, you completed the Master of Mergers & Acquisitions at FS. To what extent did your studies further your career?

The law degree programme helps you further develop your analytical abilities and structured thinking, building a very good foundation for working as a company lawyer – in my case, in the energy industry. What’s more, the Master programme is ideal for studying business management issues in much greater, near-real-world depth. The commercial concentration in particular helped me develop both personally and professionally on my way to becoming managing director.

How well did your academic studies prepare you for the challenges of working life, up to and including your current job as managing director of Stadtwerke Hanau GmbH? What did you find especially useful?

I gained a keener understanding of commercial data, key indicators and business impacts. As managing director, this has enabled me to understand all aspects of key business transactions and subject them to critical scrutiny right from the start. Topics on finance, tax law and company valuations were especially useful. Findings from my master’s thesis, an “analysis of windfarm finance from a game-theory perspective”, still feed into my work today.

Looking back, how important was your time as a student at Frankfurt School in the greater scheme of things?

Looking back now, the time I spent as a student was the stepping stone that enabled me to progress from purely legal work to managing my own business.

What’s your favourite memory of your time at Frankfurt School?

My fondest memories are of working together in groups in a tense, hard-working but positive atmosphere in beautiful surroundings (and that was just the old campus!)

What’s your favourite motto?

“If you love what you do, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”