Studies in Sociology, Political Science and Communications, University of Vienna. Formerly: journalist; in the Austrian Parliament and Federal Chancellery; 1997, launched a career in the energy sector; 2007, appointed to the group's management board, Verbund, Austria's largest energy utility; then switched to the Austrian Federal Railways Group and from 2010, Chairman of the Management Board; 2014, became Chairman of the Brussels-based Community of European Railways (CER). Under his leadership, the Austrian Federal Railways investigated the railway operator's role during the Nazi era in a project entitled "Suppressed Years". 17 May 2016, sworn in as Austria's Federal Chancellor.