Deutsche Bank chairman Josef Ackermann and five other co-defendants have been found not guilty of illegally paying million of euro in bonuses to executives at Mannesmann.
The regional court in Dusseldorf ruled this morning in the biggest corporate trial in German history.
Ackermann and other defendants including former Mannesmann chairman Klaus Esser had denied charges of breach of trust in approving bonuses to executives when Mannesmann was taken over by Vodafone in 2000.
The acquittal had been widely expected, especially after the presiding judge, Brigitte Koppenhoefer, said in a preliminary assessment half-way through the trial in March that while the actions of Ackermann and his five co-defendants may have breached German law - which would be a civil matter - they were not serious enough to warrant a criminal conviction.
The prosecutors had argued that the size of the payouts clearly went against the interests of both Mannesmann and its shareholders and were therefore illegal under German share law.
They had called for a jail sentence of two years with probation for Deutsche Bank chairman Josef Ackermann.
The case is likely to drag on, with prosecutors expected to appeal the verdict.
