The Vote That Cut Frankfurt

On October 24, 2022, the board of Linde plc approved a proposal that would end one of the company's two stock-market listings. Sanjiv Lamba, then less than eight months into the job as chief executive officer and today Linde's chairman and chief executive, made the case himself. The dual listing in the United States and Germany, he said, "has constrained our stock valuation through European restrictions in addition to incremental complexity."

The listing on the block was Frankfurt, the exchange tied to the German side of a company that, in Lamba's words that same day, was "very proud of our rich history and strong presence around the world, including the heritage in Germany."

He did not impose the change. He put it to a vote.

"We would like to inform our shareholders of these limitations and bring a proposal to let them decide the path forward," he said.

The Vote That Cut Frankfurt

The mechanism was elaborate: an intercompany reorganization through an Irish scheme of arrangement, a new holding company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, one new share for each old one, the same ticker. Lamba insisted the change was narrower than it looked. The proposal, he said, had no impact on Linde's employees, customers or commitment to Germany. "It only reduces the number of stock exchanges that offer trading of the Linde stock."

On January 18, 2023, shareholders answered. Of 492,532,997 shares entitled to vote, 395,547,280 were represented at the extraordinary general meeting. The scheme passed there with 93.59 percent of votes cast, and with 93.97 percent at a separate court meeting. Roughly 25 million shares voted against.

Nine months later, Linde moved again. On October 26, 2023, it notified the New York Stock Exchange that it would withdraw its listing there and transfer to Nasdaq, effective November 7. In barely a year, the company Lamba ran had cut its listings from two countries to one and switched its American exchange.

A Career Built Inside

The executive making those calls had spent nearly his whole working life inside the company and the business it absorbed. Lamba started in 1989 with BOC in India, in finance. He became director of finance and then, in 2001, managing director of the India business. He joined Linde in 2006, when Linde acquired the BOC Group. He worked in India, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Germany, where he sat on the executive board of Linde AG. From 2018 he ran Asia-Pacific as executive vice president, across a footprint of nearly 20 countries. In January 2021 he became chief operating officer, responsible for the Americas, APAC and EMEA segments as well as Linde Engineering and Lincare. He was appointed chief executive as of March 1, 2022.

He holds a bachelor of commerce degree from St. Xavier's College of the University of Calcutta and qualified as a chartered accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. The finance training shows in how he reports. He leads with ratios.

The Numbers He Chose

For 2025, Linde reported sales of $34.0 billion, up 3 percent, and adjusted operating profit of $10.1 billion. Lamba's summary: "Linde delivered another year of resilient performance, with operating profit, cash flow and backlog each exceeding $10 billion." Adjusted operating margin reached 29.8 percent, return on capital 24.2 percent, and adjusted earnings per share rose 6 percent to $16.46. The company generated $10.4 billion of operating cash flow, spent $5.3 billion on capital projects and returned $7.4 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.

The growth underneath was thin. The 3 percent sales gain came from 2 percent price attainment and 1 percent from bolt-on acquisitions. Volumes, the company reported, remained stable. In the fourth quarter, net income fell 11 percent to $1,530 million; Linde's adjusted figures excluded restructuring charges.

A company of that size, holding margins near 30 percent with flat volumes, was running on price and productivity. The question was how long that could last.

The Conditions Tighten

The language hardened in 2026. In May, Lamba reported a quarter of 10 percent earnings-per-share growth and a 30 percent operating margin delivered "under increasingly challenging global conditions." In EMEA, underlying sales fell 2 percent on 3 percent lower volumes, mainly in chemicals and energy and in manufacturing. Linde Engineering's sales fell 8 percent.

The second quarter brought records, "generating record sales and EPS," in Lamba's words, with sales of $9.3 billion. It also brought a crack. Operating margin was 60 basis points lower than a year earlier, the company reported, as higher price and productivity initiatives were offset by cost inflation.

The Electronics Backlog Grows

The forward bet sits in the backlog. During the second quarter, Linde signed another long-term electronics supply contract in the United States, which Lamba said lifted the sale-of-gas backlog to a record $8.1 billion. Three months earlier the company had cited $7.1 billion. "Customer proposal activity remains robust, primarily across the electronics end market, giving us confidence to further grow the backlog," he said.

The spending followed. Linde raised its 2026 capital expenditure range to $5.5 billion to $6.0 billion, from $5.0 billion to $5.5 billion in May, and guided to full-year adjusted earnings per share of $17.70 to $17.90, up 8 to 9 percent.

The board, meanwhile, concentrated authority in him. Linde's directors elected Lamba chairman effective January 31, 2026, on the retirement of Stephen Angel, combining the two roles and keeping Robert Wood as lead independent director. The same month, Amphenol added him to its board.

The Market Votes Quarterly

Three and a half years after asking shareholders whether Linde should keep trading in Frankfurt, the question before them is harder to put on a ballot: whether a company with volumes barely moving can keep compounding through price, productivity and a record project backlog. For the third quarter, Linde has guided to adjusted earnings per share of $4.45 to $4.55. In July, he said he was confident the team would "continue to secure high-quality future growth projects while delivering long-term shareholder value."

In 2022, he asked shareholders to decide the path forward. They answered once, with more than 93 percent of votes cast. Now they answer every quarter.