Matthias Zachert was born on November 8, 1967 in Bonn, Germany. After graduating from high school, he trained as a commercial assistant at the former Mercedes Benz AG in Stuttgart. From 1990 to 1995, he studied business administration, specializing in finance. During that time, he also spent periods in the United States and France.

He subsequently joined the International Management Program of the former Hoechst AG, and, in 1996, became head of a special IPO project to establish the Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR) pharmaceutical business as a separate legal entity worldwide. After holding a number of other management positions at HMR, he assumed responsibility in 1999 for the financial integration of the pharmaceutical companies HMR and Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, which subsequently became Aventis Pharma as part of the merger between Hoechst and Rhône-Poulenc. In January 2000, Matthias Zachert was appointed Chief Financial Officer of the International Region of Aventis Pharma, headquartered in Paris. In mid-2002, he moved to Düsseldorf to become CFO of Kamps AG, where he was involved in the realignment of the company.

On September 16, 2004, Zachert was appointed CFO of LANXESS AG.

Zachert is married and has two children.