Arm Holdings vs Volkswagen: Founders, CEOs and History
Arm Holdings was founded in 1990 by Robin Saxby, Sophie Wilson, Steve Furber and is led by Rene Haas. Volkswagen was founded in 1937 by Ferdinand Porsche and is led by Oliver Blume.
Company facts
Arm Holdings
- Founded
- 1990
- Headquarters
- Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Current CEO
- Rene Haas
- Employees
- 9,584
Volkswagen
- Founded
- 1937
- Headquarters
- Wolfsburg, Germany
- Current CEO
- Oliver Blume
- Employees
- 663,000
Founders
Arm Holdings
Robin Saxby
The founding of Arm (Advanced RISC Machines) is a quintessentially British technology story, born out of a desperate need to build a more efficient computer processor.
Sophie Wilson
Sophie Wilson, along with Steve Furber, designed the original ARM processor at Acorn Computers in 1983 to 1985.
Steve Furber
Steve Furber served as the ARM processor's lead hardware designer at Acorn before the formation of Arm Ltd., but like Sophie Wilson did not join the new company directly.
Volkswagen
Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche (1875-1951) was an Austrian-born automotive engineer who had worked for Lohner, Austro-Daimler and Daimler-Benz before opening his own design office in Stuttgart in 1931.
CEOs and their tenures
Arm Holdings
- Robin Saxby1991–2001
Founding Chief Executive Officer
Robin Saxby was Arm's founding chief executive, recruited in 1991 to run the new joint venture from a converted barn at Swaffham Bulbeck near Cambridge with 12 engineers seconded from Acorn.
Source - Warren East2001–2013
Chief Executive Officer (Former)
Warren East ran Arm for twelve years from October 2001, the period in which the company became the default architecture for mobile computing.
Source - Simon Segars2013–2022
Chief Executive Officer (Former)
Simon Segars was chief executive for nine years from July 2013, overseeing SoftBank's 2016 acquisition, the attempted sale to Nvidia and the expansion of Arm's IoT strategy through the Treasure Data and Stream Technologies acquisitions, both of which were late…
Source - Rene Haas2022–present
Chief Executive Officer
Rene Haas became Arm's chief executive in February 2022, succeeding Simon Segars after nine years at Arm in engineering and commercial roles.
Source
Volkswagen
- Hermann Münch1946–1947
Chief Executive Officer
Early executive involved in the incredibly complex immediate post-war administration of the completely destroyed factory under British military control.
Source - Heinrich Nordhoff1948–1968
Chief Executive Officer
The absolute legendary post-war architect who took the ruins of the VW factory and transformed the Beetle into a massive, globally beloved cultural icon and economic miracle.
Source - Kurt Lotz1968–1971
Chief Executive Officer
Early post-war leader who began the critical process of diversifying VW's lineup beyond relying entirely on a single model (the Beetle).
Source - Rudolf Leiding1971–1975
Chief Executive Officer
Crucial CEO who managed the extremely difficult, highly risky transition away from the iconic but severely outdated Beetle toward modern, front-wheel-drive water-cooled cars (like the Golf).
Source - Toni Schmücker1975–1982
Chief Executive Officer
Guided the company through the severe financial crises of the 1970s, ensuring the successful launch and massive adoption of the original VW Golf.
Source - Carl Hahn1982–1993
Chief Executive Officer
As CEO in the 1980s, he executed the massive, highly strategic acquisitions of SEAT and Skoda, laying the foundation for VW's absolute dominance in Europe.
Source - Ferdinand Piëch1993–2002
Chief Executive Officer
As the legendary, absolutely ruthless patriarch (and grandson of Ferdinand Porsche), he transformed VW from a struggling mass-market brand into the most powerful automotive conglomerate on Earth.
Source - Bernd Pischetsrieder2002–2006
Chief Executive Officer
Serving as CEO from 2002 to 2006, he oversaw the incredibly complex integration of massive luxury brands like Bugatti and Bentley into the VW Group portfolio.
Source - Martin Winterkorn2007–2015
Chief Executive Officer
As the notoriously demanding, absolutely feared CEO, he oversaw massive global expansion but fostered a culture of absolute terror that led engineers to cheat rather than admit failure.
Source - Matthias Müller2015–2018
Chief Executive Officer
As CEO during the darkest period in modern VW history, he initiated the massive cultural purge of the toxic, highly secretive engineering culture that caused the cheating scandal.
Source - Herbert Diess2018–2022
Chief Executive Officer
Serving as CEO, he forcefully dragged the massive, highly bureaucratic legacy automaker into the Tesla era, though his abrasive style alienated the powerful Porsche-Piëch families.
Source - Oliver Blume2022–present
Chairman of the Board of Management
He also ran Porsche AG alongside the group role until Michael Leiters took over as Porsche CEO on January 1, 2026, leaving Blume focused on Volkswagen Group.
Source
Timeline: Arm Holdings and Volkswagen side by side
1937Volkswagen
Volkswagen founded
Volkswagen was founded under the German Labour Front as part of a state-directed people's car program.
1945Volkswagen
Wolfsburg restarted
British military administration helped restart peacetime production at Wolfsburg after World War II.
1965Volkswagen
Audi foundation added
Volkswagen acquired Auto Union from Daimler-Benz, creating the foundation for modern Audi.
1974Volkswagen
Golf production begins
The Golf gave Volkswagen a modern front-engine, front-wheel-drive compact platform after the Beetle era.
1985Arm Holdings
ARM1 Processor First Silicon
The first ARM processor, ARM1, reached silicon at Acorn Computers, designed by Sophie Wilson, who wrote the instruction set, and Steve Furber, who led the hardware.
1990Arm Holdings
Arm Founded as an Acorn, Apple and VLSI Joint Venture
The company was incorporated in November 1990 as Widelogic Limited and renamed Advanced RISC Machines Limited on December 3, 1990, structured as a joint venture between Acorn Computers, Apple Computer and VLSI Technology.
1993Arm Holdings
Apple Newton Ships with ARM610 and Arm Turns Profitable
Apple launched the Newton MessagePad, powered by an ARM610 processor, the first significant consumer product built on an ARM-based chip.
1998Arm Holdings
Dual Listing on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq
Arm floated on April 17, 1998, trading in London and New York on the same day after being priced at 575p a share by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Cazenove. The company was renamed ARM Holdings at the listing and joined the FTSE 100.
2001Arm Holdings
Warren East Becomes Chief Executive
Warren East was appointed chief executive in October 2001, succeeding Robin Saxby. Over the following twelve years Arm established the Cortex CPU and Mali GPU families and became the standard architecture for smartphones.
2004Arm Holdings
Artisan Components Acquired for $913 Million
Arm bought Artisan Components, a designer of physical IP such as standard cell libraries, memory compilers and input and output cells, extending Arm from processor designs into the foundry-specific building blocks needed to fabricate a chip.
2007Arm Holdings
iPhone Launch Accelerates Smartphone Royalty Growth
Apple launched the original iPhone with a Samsung-manufactured application processor built on an ARM11 core.
2012Volkswagen
Porsche consolidated
Porsche became a controlled sport-luxury profit anchor within Volkswagen Group.
2013Arm Holdings
Simon Segars Succeeds Warren East as CEO
Arm announced in March 2013 that Warren East would retire and that president Simon Segars, who joined Arm in 1991 as one of its early engineers, would become chief executive from July 1, 2013.
2015Volkswagen
Matthias Müller becomes CEO
Matthias Müller became CEO of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft in 2015. Chief executive of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft from 2015 to 2018.
2015Volkswagen
Emissions Scandal
US regulators accused Volkswagen in September 2015 of fitting diesel cars with software that cheated emissions tests.
2016Arm Holdings
SoftBank Acquires Arm for ~$32.1 billion (24.3 Billion Pounds)
SoftBank Group agreed on July 18, 2016 to acquire Arm Holdings for 24.3 billion pounds, about $31.4 billion in cash, and completed the deal on September 5, 2016.
2018Volkswagen
Herbert Diess becomes CEO
Herbert Diess became CEO of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft in 2018. Chief executive of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft from 2018 to 2022.
2020Arm Holdings
Nvidia Agrees to Buy Arm for $40 Billion
Nvidia announced an agreement to acquire Arm from SoftBank for about $40 billion in cash and stock.
2022Arm Holdings
Nvidia Deal Collapses and Rene Haas Becomes CEO
Nvidia and SoftBank terminated the acquisition in February 2022 after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued to block it, the UK Competition and Markets Authority recommended against it and EU regulators opened a Phase II review.
2022Volkswagen
Oliver Blume becomes chairman
Oliver Blume became chairman of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft in 2022. He also ran Porsche AG alongside the group role until Michael Leiters took over as Porsche CEO on January 1, 2026, leaving Blume focused on Volkswagen Group.
2023Arm Holdings
Nasdaq IPO Prices at $51 and Raises $4.87 Billion
Arm listed on Nasdaq on September 14, 2023 under the ticker ARM, pricing American depositary shares at $51 and raising about $4.87 billion at a valuation of roughly $54.5 billion. It was the largest U.S.
2024Arm Holdings
Fiscal 2024 Revenue Reaches $3.23 Billion
Arm reported fiscal 2024 revenue of $3,233 million, up 21%, made up of $1,802 million of royalty revenue and $1,431 million of license and other revenue, with net income of $306 million.
2024Volkswagen
Rivian software joint venture
Volkswagen and Rivian launched a software joint venture targeting next-generation electrical architecture.
2025Arm Holdings
Artisan Foundation IP Business Sold to Cadence
Arm completed the sale of its Artisan foundation IP business, the standard cell libraries, memory compilers and general-purpose input and output blocks it had built up since the 2004 Artisan acquisition, to Cadence Design Systems on August 26, 2025 under an ag…
2025Arm Holdings
Lumex Client Platform Launched for On-Device AI
In September 2025 Arm launched Lumex, its compute subsystem platform for flagship smartphones and next-generation PCs, pairing C1 CPUs and G1 GPUs with Scalable Matrix Extension version 2 for on-device AI.
2025Arm Holdings
Fiscal 2025 Revenue Passes $4 Billion
Arm reported fiscal 2025 revenue of $4,007 million, up 24%, with royalty revenue of $2,168 million and license and other revenue of $1,839 million, and net income of $792 million.
2025Volkswagen
Revenue reaches ~$364B (EUR321.9B)
Volkswagen reported ~$364 billion (EUR321.9 billion) in sales revenue, ~$10.1 billion (EUR8.9 billion) in operating result, and 8.984 million deliveries.
2026Arm Holdings
Arm Launches the AGI CPU, Its First Production Silicon
At the Arm Everywhere event in San Francisco on March 24, 2026, Arm introduced the Arm AGI CPU, the first chip it designed and sells as finished silicon rather than licensable IP.
2026Arm Holdings
Fiscal 2026 Revenue Reaches $4.92 Billion
Arm reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $4,920 million, up 23% and a third consecutive year of growth above 20% since the IPO, with royalty revenue of $2,613 million, license and other revenue of $2,307 million and net income of $904 million.
Acquisitions
Arm Holdings
- Treasure Data2018$600M
- Stream Technologies2018Undisclosed
- Apical2016$350M
- Artisan Components2004$913M
Volkswagen
- Porsche AG2012Undisclosed
- Bentley Motors1998Undisclosed
- Auto Union / Audi1965Undisclosed
Questions about Arm Holdings vs Volkswagen
Who is the CEO of Arm Holdings and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
Arm Holdings is led by Rene Haas and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft is led by Oliver Blume. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Arm Holdings founded vs Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1937 — 53 years before Arm Holdings, which was founded in 1990. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Arm Holdings.
How many employees does Arm Holdings have compared to Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
Arm Holdings employs approximately 9,584 people, while Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft employs approximately 663,000. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft has the larger workforce at 663,000 employees, compared to Arm Holdings's 9,584. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Arm Holdings and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft headquartered?
Arm Holdings is headquartered in United Kingdom and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft is headquartered in Germany. Their different home markets mean they may face different regulatory frameworks, tax regimes, and currency exposure.
Who founded Arm Holdings and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
Arm Holdings was founded by Robin Saxby, Sophie Wilson, Steve Furber. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft was founded by Ferdinand Porsche.
Which company has a longer operating history — Arm Holdings or Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft has been operating for approximately 89 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Arm Holdings has been in operation for around 36 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Arm Holdings vs Volkswagen overview