German billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuehne dies at age 89

24.08.2026 [18:40]
Print
A⁺ A^-

Baku, August 24, AZERTAC

German investor Klaus-Michael Kuehne, the controlling shareholder of Swiss logistics group Kuehne + ‌Nagel, has died aged 89, the company said on Monday.

Kuehne, the grandson of company co-founder August Kuehne, also held major stakes in German groups Lufthansa, Hapag-Lloyd and chemicals trade group Brenntag as ⁠well as bus and train services operator Flix.

A dominant figure in global shipping and logistics, he transformed Kuehne + Nagel from a family freight forwarder into one of the world's largest logistics groups and amassed a fortune that made him one of Germany's richest investors.

His holdings are worth more than $44.2 billion, according ‌to ⁠Forbes.

He became CEO of Kuehne and Nagel in 1975 and was the chairman of its board of directors between 1992 and 2011.

With strong family ties to northern ⁠Germany, Kuehne formed a group of investors that agreed to buy Hapag-Lloyd's Hamburg-based container shipping business from TUI in ⁠2008 to prevent it from getting folded into a global rival.

A commanding presence among German family ⁠investors, he later acquired 20% of the voting rights in German flagship carrier Lufthansa Group.

German billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuehne dies at age 89

FEEDBACK

Other news in this section