Über mich.

Dr. Christian Fuat J. Ecer, M.A., M.B.A.
Investor and Executive Board Advisor
Adaptive Strategic Leadership
Seit über 18 Jahren arbeite ich an der Schnittstelle von Strategie, Behavioral Economics und Corporate Finance. Als CFO in mittelständischen Unternehmen und Start-ups, Head of Corporate Strategy & M&A in Konzernen sowie Investment Director in der Private-Equity-Branche habe ich Wachstumsstrategien, Portfoliotransformationen und Restrukturierungsprogramme entwickelt, geführt und erfolgreich umgesetzt.
Parallel dazu habe ich meine akademische Forschung auf strategisches Entscheidungsverhalten in volatilen Märkten und Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) fokussiert, um meine praktische Führungserfahrung durch Erkenntnisse aus Behavioral Economics, Kognitionswissenschaft, Strategieforschung und Erkenntnistheorie anzureichern.
Über Branchen und Marktzyklen hinweg zeigt sich ein konsistentes Muster: Wertschöpfung entsteht aus der Fähigkeit, Unsicherheit durch belastbare Führungs- und Entscheidungssysteme in konsequentes und weitsichtiges Handeln zu übersetzen. Fehlentscheidungen entstehen dort, wo Intuition zum ungeprüften Glaubenssatz wird oder ausufernde Analyse in Entscheidungsparalyse mündet.
Aus dieser Erfahrung heraus habe ich das Adaptive Strategy Model entwickelt – eine integrierte Entscheidungsarchitektur, die strategische Entscheidungen als lernfähige Systeme begreift und Strategie, Finanzen sowie operative Umsetzung dynamisch miteinander verbindet.
Diese Entscheidungsarchitektur bildet den Kern meiner Arbeit als unabhängiger strategischer Berater, Investor und Fractional CFO für Konzerne, mittelständische Unternehmen und Start-ups. In meinen Mandaten der vergangenen Jahre war sie ein zentraler Treiber erfolgreich umgesetzter Wachstumsstrategien, Restrukturierungen und M&A-Transaktionen.
Leadership Experience
Dr. Ecer Strategy and M&A
Investor and Executive Board Advisor (2020–present)
Krannich Solar Group
Group CFO (2024–2026)
Retail Media Group GmbH (Subsidiary of CECONOMY AG)
CFO and COO (2018–2020)
CECONOMY AG (former Metro AG)
Head of M&A and Corporate Strategy (2017–2020)
Mutares AG (Private Equity)
Investment Director (2016–2017)
BASF SE
Senior Manager Corporate Strategy and M&A (2012–2016)
Leadership Education
University of Oxford
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2022-2023)
Heidelberg University
Ph.D. Behavioral Economics; Summa Cum Laude (2018-2021)
Harvard University - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Ph.D. Scholarship, Visiting Fellowship Program (2020-2021)
INSEAD
Ph.D. Scholarship, Visiting Fellowship (2019)
University of Mannheim - Mannheim Business School
Full-time M.B.A.; ranked 2nd in class; Wilhelm-Müller-Foundation Award for Academic Excellence (2010-2011)
Public References
"I had the good fortune to advise Fuat during his visiting year at Harvard in 2020. With some guidance from me, he developed an innovative thesis, studying the impact of investment banking advice on offer premiums. Fuat is a clever and creative researcher, a seasoned practitioner, and an all-around pleasure to work with."
- Prof. Malcolm P. Baker, Harvard University
"Fuat was part of my team in Corporate Strategy at BASF for 2 years. He strongly supported several strategic projects in our company, mainly related to M+A. I fully enjoyed working with Fuat, his very strong commitment to deliver excellent results is outstanding. He is smart, very fast and passionate about what he does and about creating value for the company. And he always has an eye on the "reasons why". He builds strong networks within the company. I wish him all the best for his next step in his career. "
- Thomas Kloster, President Petrochemicals, BASF SE
"I worked with Fuat during commercial due diligence and strategy projects at PwC. His outstanding strategic thinking, quantitative expertise, can-do attitude and entrepreneurial drive made him an absolute pleasure to work with. Besides providing exceptional work, he demonstrated a lead-by-example type of working style, excellent communication and presentation skills as well as genuine integrity and empathy. Fuat is a unique talent - I fully recommend him as a strategist and manager."
- Matthias Müller, Partner, Deloitte
"I thoroughly recommend Fuat Ecer as both an outstanding consultant and smart manager. He was one of the highest performing students on the Mannheim Business School MBA programme where he thoroughly displayed his strategic skills. Fuat is one of the outstanding managers of the future."
- Prof. Andrew Kakabadse, Henley Business School
"I worked with Fuat in Corporate Strategy at BASF. Fuat has the ability to quickly analyze complex, unfamiliar topics and distill them down to the key points with clear recommendations for action. His creativity is evident in not only the solutions he provides, but also in the graphical way he presents them. Fuat is a very captivating presenter with engaging charts and a passionate speaking style. He did an excellent job leading diverse project teams working on key strategic corporate projects. Fuat was able to build teams with the right expertise, listen to the collective input, challenge the teams to refine the ideas, gain buy-in from key stakeholders (including upper management), and consistently deliver results that exceeded expectations on time. He has an incredible work ethic and his optimism make it fun to work with him on teams. "
- Alex Attlesey, Vice President - Global Refinery Catalysts, BASF SE
"I met Fuat during the "M&A in Practice" program at WHU, in which he was one of the faculty members and lecturers. Fuat’s impact on the program was decisive; his teaching, coaching and insights really made it the best further education program I have attended for years. His courses were cutting-edge, clear and vivid. He did a fantastic job to not only teach practical tools and frameworks, but also elaborate on their value in real cases."
- Georg Boie, Executive VP & Managing Director, PNE AG
"Fuat’s course at the M&T EMBA was excellent. The balance between theory and application was perfect. The tools were super helpful to use for my work later on strategy implementation. He brings a lot of good examples from the chemical industry, which were super relevant for my work.
I highly recommend his courses and after it you will feel well prepared to design and implement any strategy. "
- Thiago Gomes de Lima, Global Procurement Director Construction, Lonza