[8] ESMT Berlin was founded on October 31, 2002, by 25 multinational corporations seeking to break from the traditional approaches of German executive education by creating a more international business school in Germany.

The historic castle and grounds, which served as the Metternich family's residence for centuries, became the site of ESMT's German-language executive education courses right after the school's foundation.

[2] The main governance structures are the Executive Management Committee, chaired by Jörg Rocholl, PhD, President and Managing Director of ESMT Berlin, and the Supervisory Board of ESMT GmbH chaired by Werner Zedelius, Senior Advisor at Allianz SE.

[26] Centers and institutes[27] Chairs[27] ESMT Berlin is accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA),[28] Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB),[29] European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS),[30] and Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA).

[34] ESMT offers five Master of Business Administration programs: Students can choose add-ons to the scheduled courses, for example, career coaching.

Master's students also take part in targeted internships, social impact projects and additional finance courses.

[46] The school's headquarters and main campus is located in the former GDR State Council Building[47] in Berlin next to the Federal Foreign Office and opposite of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Museum Island.

[49] Since its renovation, the former State Council Building has acted as a venue for seminars, lectures, conferences, and social events at ESMT Berlin.

[52] In November 2023, a photovoltaic system was installed on the roof of the main building, which is expected to cover around 25% of the university's electricity requirements.

[57] In 2023 for the first time, the ESMT hosted the Berlin Global Dialogue, including guests such as Olaf Scholz and Charles Michel.

Executive MBA Master in Global Management Executive Education ESMT is a member of the Global Network for Advanced Management, a collaboration of graduate schools of business that seeks to foster intellectual ties among business schools, students and deans from both economically strong regions and those on the horizon of economic development.

[67] ESMT is a part of the Global MiM Network in association with Imperial College London, Singapore Management University and Queen's University at Kingston, which enables students at each member school to take courses at one or more partner institutions, providing the option for studying abroad without the bureaucracy or the cost of a full-time overseas program.