Press release: XING AG hires Chief Technical Officer (CTO), expands Executive Board to four members

Hamburg, February 06, 2009 – Acting upon a request of the current Executive Board to add a fourth member, the Supervisory Board of XING AG (O1BC/ISIN DE000XNG888) has voted to expand the Executive Board to include a Chief Technical Officer. Consequently Michael Otto, 37 years of age, has been appointed CTO, and will assume responsibility for the development of technology and the implementation of new features on the XING platform. Mr. Otto, who is currently managing director of Hamburg, Germany-based epublica GmbH, a technology company, has been working with XING AG since 2003. Mr. Otto and epublica GmbH have been instrumental in the technical development of xing.com, Europe's leading platform for business professionals.  As part of an asset deal, 19 epublica GmbH employees will follow Mr. Otto to XING AG, allowing the company to expand its technical and programming expertise. The two teams already work hand in hand at the XING AG offices in Hamburg. epublica employees will now officially join XING AG's existing staff to comprise a product development team of 78.

“As a technology leader in the expanding Web 2.0 market, it makes sense for us to increase our expertise in this key area of the company and to expand the Executive Board accordingly. We've been lucky in being able to convince Michael Otto to join us as CTO: he has a great deal of experience, and has an entrepreneurial spirit. He and his team have also been involved in the development of our platform almost from Day One, which means they know our processes precisely,” explained Stefan Gross-Selbeck, Chairman of the Executive Board of XING AG. The newly expanded Executive Board will hence include the CEO, Mr. Gross-Selbeck, the new CTO, Mr. Otto, as well as the current CFO, Eoghan Jennings, and the COO, Burkhard Blum. Mr. Jennings oversees the Finance division of the enterprise, and is further responsible for planning, controlling, and performance management. Mr. Blum is responsible for legal affairs, human resources, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate and market development.

About XING:
XING is the leading network for business contacts in Europe. Far more than a directory of business contacts, XING makes your professional network an active part of your life, enabling members to discover professional people, opportunities and privileges through its unique discovery capability and advanced contact management tools.

With the successful IPO of XING as the first Web 2.0 company to go public, XING AG has had a long-term impact on the social networking trend amongst professionals. By focusing on the target group 'business people worldwide', the company is able to offer tailored features, thereby making networking and contact management simpler. Besides Headquarters in Hamburg, XING AG is also represented with offices in Barcelona, Istanbul and Beijing.
XING. Powering Relationships.