Jochen A. Rotthaus is one of the leading minds in corporate strategy, sales, and marketing, with a proven track record of building high-performance structures.
As a seasoned CEO and executive, he now supports top-level decision-makers and companies as a successful consultant on their path to sustainable growth, profitable scaling, and outstanding market positioning. With over 25 years of experience in executive roles – including at VfB Stuttgart, TSG Hoffenheim, Bavaria Film Group, and Bayer 04 Leverkusen – Jochen A. Rotthaus has demonstrated how visionary leadership, excellent sales and marketing management, and strategic transformation can elevate organizations to the top.
He became particularly well known for his pivotal role in the spectacular rise of TSG Hoffenheim. Working alongside SAP founder Dietmar Hopp, he transformed the club from a small-town amateur team into one of Europe’s most modern football organizations – guided by foresight, innovation, and a deep understanding of brand development and organizational structure. Leadership culture and value-driven management have always been at the core of his success.
Jochen A. Rotthaus Lecture topics
Keynote: “Life is not a home run”
Jochen A. Rotthaus’ successful professional career, especially his time in Hoffenheim, provides more than enough exciting material for a keynote speech or a 90-minute lecture. ZDF has recorded excerpts from this phase (3.5 years) in a documentary entitled “Das Leben ist kein Heimspiel” (Life is not a home run.) Jochen Rotthaus takes us on a journey through the various worlds of the most beautiful trivialities in the world: the fascination of professional soccer and Bundesliga soccer, the film and television industry, and the magic of start-ups turning green meadows into blooming landscapes.
With his passion for people and his enthusiastic charm as a smart, charismatic leader, he succeeds in transferring his own professional diversity to the various realities of work and life in a comprehensible way. Regardless of industries, products, and markets, the transfer of skills, experience, and mindset to teams, entire workforces, or individuals offers many scope-enhancing lessons.
Jochen A. Rotthaus’s keynotes focus on the essential success factors for leadership, entrepreneurship, and transformation.
Drawing on his extensive background in professional sports, media, events, and the start-up scene, he shares practical insights on leadership, emotional brand building, and sales excellence.
Key topics of his speeches include building and professionalizing organizations, creating a strong leadership culture in times of change, emotional selling, increasing customer loyalty, strategic networking, crisis resilience, and digital transformation. He also emphasizes personal growth, resilience, and the importance of turning setbacks into learning experiences.
Today, Jochen A. Rotthaus accompanies companies that aim not only to grow but to position themselves at the top for the long term. His work focuses on impactful leadership: helping executives turn vision into actionable strategies and measurable results, expand into new markets, and build sustainable networks. His keynotes and mentoring programs are based not on theory but on real-world experience and long-standing leadership practice.
With compelling real-life examples, business case studies, and a highly practical transfer to the audience’s work environment, Jochen A. Rotthaus delivers inspiration and concrete tools for leaders and teams alike – always aiming to instill responsibility, excellence, and actionable vision.
Positions & Offices:
- Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, Leverkusen: Director of Marketing & Communications, Member of the Executive Board (authorized signatory)
- DEG Düsseldorfer Eishockey GmbH, Düsseldorf (Managing Director)
- TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Fußball-Spielbetriebs GmbH, Hoffenheim (Managing Director)
- VfB Stuttgart 1893 e.V. / VfB Stuttgart Marketing GmbH, Stuttgart (Managing Director)
- Bavaria Film GmbH, Geiselgasteig (Member of the Management Board, Authorized Signatory)
- Since 2024: Member of the Economic Advisory Board of FRISCH AUF! Göppingen
- Since 2021: Member of the Board of Trustees of Stiftung Lesen, Mainz
- Since 2020: Member of the Advisory Board of Rhein Asset Management (Lux) S. A., Düsseldorf