Duttweiler Foundation

The Gottlieb and Adele Duttweiler Foundation

The foundation’s task is to safeguard the ideas of the founder of Migros. It is independent of all Migros bodies and organisations and acts in an advisory and moral capacity. It also monitors compliance with the Articles of Association and the contract between the FMC and the cooperatives, approves the salary bands for Migros management and the remuneration of the members of the FMC Board of Directors.

Purpose, resources and rights

The rights and obligations of the Foundation are listed in the Foundation Statutes, in the “Binding Declaration” (main part of the contract between the Federation of Migros Cooperatives and the ten Migros Cooperatives) and in the 15 Theses set out by the founders in 1950. These theses are a legacy left behind by founders Gottlieb and Adele Duttweiler and aim to preserve the ideas which are at the heart of Migros.

The Foundation supports all endeavours which, in the spirit of the founders, are geared towards a free and democratic economy based on social responsibility. It is autonomous and not bound by any decisions reached by Migros Community bodies. The Foundation does not have any financial resources of its own.

It ensures that the statutes, contracts and the ideas of the Migros founders are adhered to throughout the Migros Community.
The salary bands of top management, including the FMC Executive Board, and the compensation of the FMC Board of Directors must be approved by the Foundation.
It also ensures that no bonuses or profit-sharing payments are made to the members of the Boards of Directors and the Executive Managers of the Migros Community, and that the internal members do not receive any compensation or per-diems for their work on the Board of Directors.
It has a right to publish questions of thought in the Migros Magazine and may demand that certain questions be put to the entire membership of all Migros Cooperatives in a consultative ballot.
The Foundation Board is invited to all FMC Assembly of Delegates meetings. The Chair of the Foundation has the right to participate in FMC Board of Directors meetings (without voting rights) and represents the opinion of the Foundation Board. The responsible persons of the Migros Community are periodically invited to Foundation Board meetings to exchange information.

Current members of the Foundation Board

The Foundation Board comprised the following five members at the end of 2023:

David Bosshart (President)
Max Alter
Christian Biland
Walter Huber
Ursula Schoepfer-Bretscher

Former presidents

President	Period
Gottlieb Duttweiler	1950 – 1962
Adele Duttweiler	1962 – 1982
Ernst Melliger	1982 – 1992
Pierre Arnold	1992 – 2004
Jules Kyburz	2005 – 2012
Peter Birrer	2012 – 2020

Information-sharing

The Foundation Board is invited to all meetings of the Assembly of Delegates FCM. The President of the Foundation is entitled to participate in meetings of the FMC Board of Directors (without a voting right) and represents the views of the Foundation Board. Office-holders within the Migros community are periodically invited to share information with the meetings of the Foundation Board.