Maximilian Müller-Guttenbrunn, the fourth generation of the family, joined the company in September 2023. Unfazed and without pressure from outside, he takes an overview of what his ancestors have built up. When asked where he sees his future, he has a clear answer: here, in the company that my great-grandfather founded and my grandfather and father developed further.
Maximilian Müller-Guttenbrunn has always been fascinated by the fact that you can turn waste and discarded materials into something new. He is confident that he will be able to keep pace with the challenges ahead.
Many people have known him for years. He has always worked in the company during his holidays, in his early days on the ‘yard’. Today, at the age of 26, he sits on the management board and learns from the elders what he needs to know for his future and the future of the company. There is a great deal of respect for what the employees out there achieve. Max, as he likes to be called, joined the company last autumn. Before that, he completed his Master’s degree in ‘Export & Internationalisation Management’ at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.
The first few months were characterised by getting to know the company in all its facets. He was at least superficially familiar with a lot of things from his holiday internships, having often worked in controlling with Michael Kimmeswenger at Metrec during his school days at Metran and during his business studies. His plan to join the company also matured at that time. ‘I already decided in favour of the business sector in secondary school. Although I often expressed the wish to study medicine as a child, I decided to study business administration after my civilian service, which I completed at the Waidhofen/Ybbs hospital,’ says Max.
Lots of support from all sides
Maximilian Müller-Guttenbrunn is currently mainly involved in day-to-day business. He is also responsible for projects relating to the future of the company and concerned with the presence and marketing of the Müller-Guttenbrunn Group on social media.
Max currently works with Martin Kriegl and Dietmar Berger on a day-to-day basis. He trades in metals, purchases for Metran, but can also always be found in the materials receiving department. Together with Manuel Riedl, who also works in purchasing and is responsible for technical development, he is working on various projects for the future. Max is also responsible for the Müller-Guttenbrunn Group’s presence and marketing on social media, such as Instagram. In order to get to know the recycling industry better in general, Maximilian Müller-Guttenbrunn also travels a lot to conferences and meetings with associations, sometimes representing the local company on his own.
At the Müller-Guttenbrunn Group plants, it is nothing unusual for employees to work with or meet the boss’s son, as some of them have known him since he was a teenager. He, in turn, feels at home in ‘his’ company and is happy to lend a hand wherever he can. ‘I still have to learn to understand a lot of what goes on in our halls and facilities, which is sometimes not so easy. I’m very grateful that they are willing to explain everything to me when I ask, sometimes even a second time (smiles),’ says Max to his colleagues.
For his part, Max’s father, Christian Müller-Guttenbrunn, attaches great importance to his son getting to know all sides and facets of the job. The two of them can therefore be seen together at the company’s general meetings, which reflect the entirety of the Group.
From scrap yard to internationally operating company. Still no pressure.
Maximilian Müller-Guttenbrunn never felt any pressure from his family to develop in a certain direction. Nevertheless, his father and grandfather were immensely proud when he decided to join the company.
‘I have great respect for all those who have built up this impressive company. I really want to do my best here,’ says Max, looking forward to the future. ‘It’s very motivating to carry on what my family has built up and to preserve the tradition.’
Max didn’t realise for a long time just how big the footsteps were that his father and grandfather had created. As a child, he didn’t really realise how much his father worked. When he was at home, he spent all his time looking after his family. It was only when his son started to grow into the company bit by bit that he realised what his father had achieved. There is also no pressure for Max within the Group for the time being. He can take his time to look around and then decide where he sees himself and where he can make the most difference. In addition to his job, he completes training and further education programmes that prepare him for his professional future.
New minds, new materials, new technologies
Maximilian Müller-Guttenbrunn is the fourth generation to work in the company founded by his predecessors. Even as a teenager, he worked ‘on the yard’ during holidays.
In the future, new technologies will be needed to process new materials that come onto the market. This means that the task of saving the world from unnecessary waste will never be boring. ‘The fact that you can create something new from waste, from what has been thrown away, is fascinating. I am confident that we will be able to keep pace with the challenges ahead,’ says Max. He is also aware that the Müller-Guttenbrunn Group will have to do without great colleagues who have been with us for many years in the medium term. They will be retiring. Until that time comes, it is important to break new ground and find solutions.
Maximilian Müller-Guttenbrunn private
For Max, sport is essential to balance out his job. He can therefore regularly be found in the gym. In addition to numerous outdoor activities, he has actively played American football in his university team since his student days. Whether he will still find the time for this in the future, however, is written in the stars. But Max is optimistic here too: ‘If football doesn’t work out, I’ll find something else that keeps me fit and clears my head for new ideas.