He was raised in Krefeld. After graduating high school and completing military service, where he spent two years in the air force, he started his professional career at BMW in Munich and completed a business apprenticeship program in 1986. From 1986 to 1988, he studied economics at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster.
Career
Also in 1986, Obermann founded his own company ABC Telekom, located in Münster, Germany. Andreas Gerdes was his Partner from 1988 to 1992. He gave up studying after 2 years due to the successful development of ABC. In 1991, ABC Telekom merged with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and became Hutchison Mobilfunk GmbH. Obermann was Managing Partner from 1992 to 1993 and Chief Executive Officer from 1993 to 1998. After having sold his remaining shares, Obermann started his career at Deutsche Telekom Group, first at T-Mobile Deutschland GmbH as a Member of the Executive Board. From March 2000 to March 2002 he was CEO of T-Mobile Deutschland. In June 2001, he additionally became CEO Europe at T-Mobile International AG. In November 2002, he became Board Member of Deutsche Telekom AG and was then appointed as CEO of the group’s mobile division, T-Mobile International AG. He took over the last two roles from Kai-Uwe Ricke who was appointed as CEO of Deutsche Telekom AG. After Ricke had resigned in 2006, Obermann became the CEO of Deutsche Telekom AG. During Obermann's tenure as CEO, he was instrumental in obtaining an exclusive partnership from Apple Inc. for Deutsche Telekom to sell the original iPhone in Germany and in other European countries in late-2007. Other successes were the German market leadership, the merger of Orange and T-Mobile UK to Everything Everywhere and the merger of Metro PCS and T-Mobile in the US and its IPO. In 2012, Obermann also took over responsibility for innovation in the group. From February 2007 to November 2013, Obermann was Vice President of Germany's digital association BITKOM. Obermann left Deutsche Telekom in December 2013 and assumed the role of CEO of the Dutch cable and internet provider, Ziggo. His decision was already published in 2012 – he wanted to go back to a more operational role – back into the ‘machine room’ where he came from. In 2014 it became public that Ziggo would become takeover target of Liberty Global. Obermann announced that he would therefore leave the company upon completion of the merger, which took place at the end of 2014. In February 2015, Obermann became Partner and Managing Director at Warburg Pincus International LLC. In April 2016, Obermann became a member of the advisory board of the German Internet Economy Foundation, which supports the German and European digital economy. René Obermann is also a partner in US-based private equity firm and a managing director of Warburg Pincus Deutschland GmbH. In April 2020, Obermann became Chairman of the Board of Directors of Airbus SE, succeeding Denis Ranque.
