[2][3] In 2006, a German government investigation uncovered slush funds in secret bank accounts maintained by Siemens in order to win contracts.
[11] In October 2017, he was named director of Saudi Arabia's Neom initiative, later becoming an advisor of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
[15] In 1987, Kleinfeld joined Munich-based Siemens AG, a global engineering and technology services firm based in the U.S. and Germany.
[18] The recession in the U.S. had adversely impacted profits and Kleinfeld conceived a radical strategy to improve the performance of Siemens' operating companies.
[2][25] Because of the traditional two-tier German governance structure, a supervisory board that included union and shareholder representatives balked at Kleinfeld's restructuring plans.
[3][26] While his strategies were generally viewed positively by the worldwide financial press, Kleinfeld was criticized by German media, mainly for a perceived lack of social responsibility pertaining to Siemens workers.
[29] The investigation later found that Siemens maintained slush funds in secret bank accounts outside Germany that the company used to win contracts.
[31] The independent investigation later found that the company paid hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes, which were legal in Germany until 1999, but that there were "no indications of personal misconduct or that Kleinfeld had any knowledge of events" related to the scandal.
[7][8][9] In September 2009, Siemens threatened to sue Kleinfeld and other former executives for supervisory failings and extended a settlement offer to compensate the company for millions of dollars in fines and damage to its "reputation.
[42] In 2013, he cited a backlog in aerospace manufacturing and an increasing demand for lightweight aluminum products in the automotive and construction industries due to a "historic shift" toward fuel and energy efficiency.
[44][45][46] He implemented a strategy to reduce the company's reliance on commodities, overseeing its rise to become a global leader in lightweight metals, and increasing its reputation for manufacturing innovation.
[48] On 1 November 2016, Alcoa fully separated its raw aluminum operation from business units that supply the aerospace and automotive markets.
Under Kleinfeld's direction, Alcoa has supported STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) workforce development initiatives to train and educate students and teachers globally.
[52] A July 2012 op-ed piece co-authored by Kleinfeld and Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, proposed closer business and government collaboration to narrow the STEM skills gap between the labor market and manufacturers.
Elliott publicly called for the firing of Kleinfeld, citing the company's lackluster stock performance, missed profit forecasts, and inefficient spending.
[55] On 17 April 2017, Kleinfeld resigned as chairman and CEO by mutual agreement with the board of Arconic, after sending an unauthorized letter to Elliott[56][57][58] (he sent a letter to Elliott founder Paul Singer making threatening insinuations about an incident involving "a Native American feather headdress and a rendition of 'Singin’ in the Rain' performed in a fountain" during a trip to the 2006 World Cup).