There was a time when Ferdinand Piech, the 78-year-old grandson of Ferdinand Porsche (yes, the guy who founded Porsche) was assumed to be all-powerful and couldn't be touched. This wasn't a guy to mess with because, after all, he was chairman of the board for Volkswagen for more than 20 years. Piech and the Porsche family actually control 51 percent of Volkswagen. But in a showdown with VW CEO Martin Winterkorn that began last week, Ferdinand Piech has now officially lost.

Piech just resigned as chairman in a dramatic boardroom brawl. The guy has been known to literally destroy anyone who gets in his way, specifically VW executives who he felt attempted to double-cross him; he personally ousted the two previous VW CEOs. But this time was different. In a five-to-one vote of VW's steering committee, Piech lost the confidence of his board, which clearly had more trust in Winterkorn as the company is in the process of restructuring itself. Even his own cousin, Wolfgang Porsche, voted against him. So yeah, shit just became a little more awkward at the Porsche family dinner table.