Markus Braun

Markus Braun (born 1969) is an Austrian tech investor, the former CEO and CTO at the now insolvent payment processor, Wirecard AG from January 2002 until his resignation and arrest in June 2020. Braun stepped down from Wirecard amidst fraud allegations, but has denied any wrongdoing. Court cases were pending as of 2023.

Early life and education
Markus Braun was born in Vienna.

Braun graduated from the Technical University of Vienna with a degree in commercial computer science and business studies, and then went on to earn a PhD in social and economic sciences from the University of Vienna in 2000.

Career
Braun started his career as a consultant at Contrast Management Consulting GmbH, a position he held until November 1998. Between 1998 and 2001, he worked with KPMG Consulting AG in Munich.

Wirecard
In 2002, Braun joined the management board of Wirecard AG and became CEO and CTO of the company. Wirecard was one of the world's largest digital platforms in the area of financial commerce and is headquartered in Germany. It was one of Germany's Top 30 most valuable companies on the German stock market (DAX) and has been ranked in the “Top 100 Most Innovative Growth Companies in the World” by Forbes Magazine.

Much of what Braun said was questioned long before Wirecard admitted fraud in June 2020. In 2017, for example, Braun told investors that Wirecard was using the latest artificial intelligence technology to analyze data. However according to third parties, staff were instead cobbling together spreadsheets of customer information. Braun owns more than 7% of Wirecard shares.

In 2017, Braun was reappointed as a CEO of Wirecard. He responded to his reappointment by stating: "We will drive the digitization of payment processes using internet technology on a global level, and we will make Wirecard a global leader in this sector." In 2018, Braun was introduced as having more than 15 years of experience in the digital payment industry and was a regular speaker at industry related events and different national and international media.

According to Braun in 2018, the entire retail payment infrastructure was to be replaced by technology merging all payment streams into a single, fully digital system within the following decade. The FAZ reported in 2018 that according to Braun digitalization, if done right, would generate an increase in sales for the brick and mortar business similar to the expanding online commerce. He considers cash to become an exception and says, that technology can never be justified by itself and can only be successful when it delivers visible value-added for customers and merchants.

Resignation and arrest
In June 2020, Braun stepped down as CEO after more than US$2 billion was found missing from the company accounts. In late 2017, Deutsche Bank loaned Braun €150 million and accepted half of his 7% share in Wirecard as collateral. The loan was not renewed after the company was accused of accounting fraud. On 22 June, Braun was detained by German police "on suspicion of accounting fraud and market manipulation" after he had turned himself in. On 23 June, he was released on bail, set at 5 million Euros ($5.7 million). On 22 July, he was arrested again.

In March 2022, Munich public prosecutors charged him with fraud, breach of trust and accounting manipulation. If found guilty on all these charges, he could face up to 15 years in prison. Braun maintains that he is innocent and himself a victim of fraud.

In court, public prosecutors accuse Braun of so-called third-party transactions, which are fictitious. The accusations are based on the statements made by ex-manager Oliver Bellenhaus. The missing 1.9 billion euros from third-party transaction led to the collapse of Wirecard in the summer of 2020. Insolvency administrator Michael Jaffe has not found any traces of the alleged transactions and considers it proven that these deals had never taken place.