The two families held all 8.75 million ordinary shares—
the shares which held all voting rights. The second class
of share,preference shares, participated only in profits. All
8.75 million preference shares were publicly traded. Approximately 50 percent of all preference shares were held
by large institutional investors in the United States,
Germany, and the United Kingdom; 14 percent were
held by the Porsche and Piech families; and 36 percent
were held by small private investors. As noted by the
chief financial officer, Holger H€arter,‘‘Aslongasthe
two families hold on to their stock portfolios, there
won’t be any external influence on company-related decisions. I have no doubt that the families will hang on to
their shares.’’