Stephan Winkelmann was born in Berlin on the 18 October 1964, and grew up in Rome, Italy.
After graduating from the Deutsche Schule Rom, he undertook studies in political science between Rome and Munich. In 1992 he started his working career at a financial company and in the following years shifted his focus to the automotive world, working in the commercial sector for Mercedes Benz.
In 1994 he became Area Manager for the Alfa Romeo brand within Fiat Automobil AG in Germany. Subsequently, he became marketing manager for the Southern Region.
From 1996 he worked at Fiat Auto S.p.A in Turin as Marketing Manager for Alfa Romeo and among other things was also responsible for the launch of the Alfa 156 model. He later took on the position of Area Manager for a number of European markets.
After several important positions in sales and general management in Austria and Switzerland, he became CEO of Fiat Automobil AG in Germany in 2004.
From January 1, 2005 to 2016, Stephan Winkelmann served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. In March 2016, Winkelmann became CEO of Quattro GmbH (now Audi Sport GmbH) before joining Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. as Chairman in early 2018.
As of December 1, 2020, he returned to Lamborghini as Chairman & Chief Executive Officer and held the presidency of Bugatti until October 2021.
In 2009 Winkelmann was appointed Grande Ufficiale dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic) and in 2014 Cavaliere di Gran Croce (Knight of the Grand Cross), among the highest honors bestowed by the President of the Italian Republic.
Between 1987 and 1989 Stephan Winkelmann spent two years in the German Army as a Parachute Officer.