Clemens Tönnies

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clemens Tönnies, co-owner and managing director of Tönnies Holding (2017)

Clemens Tönnies (born May 27, 1956 in Rheda , today a part of Rheda-Wiedenbrück , [ ˈkleːmɛns ˈtœnjəs ]) is a German entrepreneur . He is co-owner of the Tönnies Holding group and was chairman of the supervisory board of FC Schalke 04 from 2001 to 2020 .

Life

Tönnies and his six siblings grew up as children of a butcher in Rheda . After graduating from elementary school in 1970, Tönnies also trained as a butcher, although he initially wanted to become a radio and television mechanic. From 1976 to 1978 he completed further training as a meat technician in Kulmbach . He lives in Rheda-Wiedenbrück , has a second marriage and has two children.

His older brother Bernd (1952–1994) founded a company for meat and sausage trading in Rheda in 1971. Together they built in the 1970s on the B. & C. TönniesFleisch GmbH & Co. KG (now Tönnies Holding), which was one of the largest meat producers in Europe. Bernd Tönnies died in 1994 at the age of 42 after a kidney transplant . He left his two sons, Robert and Clemens junior, a million dollar fortune and the 60% ownership rights of his company.

Clemens Tönnies took over the management in 1994 and has since been responsible for corporate development at Tönnies Holding.

In 1994 Tönnies became a member of the supervisory board of FC Schalke 04 and from 2001 he was its chairman. In addition, he is the first chairman of the Rifle Club zu Rheda e. V. von 1833. On June 30, 2020, Clemens Tönnies resigned from all offices at Schalke 04 with immediate effect.

The US magazine Forbes estimated his fortune in April 2019 at (converted) around 1.4 billion euros. This puts him in 1349 on the Forbes list of the richest people in the world and 85th of the richest Germans.

In the course of his longstanding relationship with the semi-state Russian Schalke sponsor Gazprom , Tönnies has been on friendly terms with Vladimir Putin .

Controversy

Investigations into tax evasion (2012)

In 2012, the tax investigators investigated Clemens Tönnies for tax evasion.

Secret corporate participation (2013)

In January 2013, the Federal Cartel Office imposed a fine of 90,000 euros on Clemens Tönnies (with a fine of 100,000 euros) because Clemens Tönnies registered his stake in Zur-Mühlen- at the merger control notification of the acquisition of the slaughterhouse Tummel by Tönnies Holding. Group had kept silent. This participation was of considerable importance for the Bundeskartellamt in its decision to prohibit the acquisition of Tummel.

Cum-Ex deals (2014)

According to the news magazine Der Spiegel and the weekly newspaper Die Zeit , Tönnies was one of the celebrities who obtained money from the tax office with cum-ex deals , from which they had income taxes reimbursed that they had not paid before.

Price fixing (2016)

In 2016, the Federal Cartel Office was unable to collect a fine of 128 million euros for proven price agreements with the subsidiaries Böklunder , Plumrose and Karl Könecke Fleischwarenfabrik , because Tönnies transferred the activities of these companies to other companies in the Zur Mühlen Group and these subsidiaries subsequently had liquidated. Since the subsidiaries no longer existed legally, there was no longer any addressee for the fines, and the fine proceedings were discontinued. As a result of these events, the Federal Cabinet passed an amendment to the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB) in September 2016 in order to close this loophole.

Racism Debate (2019)

Clemens Tönnies (2016)

In 2019, Tönnies caused a scandal with a controversial statement that was often criticized as racist at the Day of Crafts in Paderborn . In a free lecture on the subject of “Entrepreneurship with responsibility - ways into the future of food production”, he criticized the idea of increasing certain taxes to combat climate change . In the lecture, Federal Development Minister Gerd Müller (CSU) called on Tönnies :

“The Federal Development Minister should instead finance power plants in Africa , which then donates 20 large power plants to Africa every year. Then the (Africans) stop cutting the trees and they stop when it's dark, when we electrify them to produce children. "

- Clemens Tönnies in August 2019

After massive criticism, Tönnies later apologized for his statement that he “stood up as an entrepreneur for an open and diverse society”. Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht criticized the statement as “dull racism”. Dagmar Freitag , chairman of the sports committee in the Bundestag, called on the ethics committee of the DFB to deal with the incident. The DFB integration officer Cacau and Schalke's club ambassador Gerald Asamoah also classified the statement as racist, as did Maram Stern from the World Jewish Congress . Tönnies apologized personally to Asamoah.

Huub Stevens , Sigmar Gabriel and Wolfgang Kubicki, on the other hand, countered the accusation of racism soon after it became known. Günter Nooke , the Chancellor's Personal Representative for Africa , emphasized that the "real problems" mentioned by Tönnies, such as the disappearance of the rainforest and the population development in Africa, should be discussed and, if necessary, controversial. Unfortunately, sentences like Tönnies' made the constructive discussion difficult: “We all have to try to use appropriate language. Everyone should feel treated with respect. "

In August 2019, the honorary council of FC Schalke 04 dealt with Tönnies' statements. He classified the racism allegations as “unfounded”, but accused Tönnies in the official announcement of “having violated the prohibition of discrimination anchored in the association's statutes and mission statement .” Tönnies then resigned from his post for three months and then returned. This measure met with criticism.

Corona outbreak (2020)

In June 2020, officially ordered mass tests for the SARS-CoV-2 virus showed that at least 1,500 of about 7,000 Tönnies factory employees at the Tönnies parent plant in Rheda-Wiedenbrück were infected with the virus (as of June 23, 2020). In a letter on June 17, 2020, Robert Tönnies requested the resignation of his uncle from the management and accused the management and the advisory board of the group of irresponsible actions as well as the endangerment of the company and the population. On June 18, 2020, parents and their children demonstrated in front of Clemens Tönnies' house, as schools and kindergartens were closed due to the risk of infection.

On June 20, Clemens Tönnies said at a press conference that he wanted to change the industry. A little later it became known that Robert Tönnies had been trying in vain for years to abolish work contracts in the company and to implement measures for more animal welfare, but always failed because of Clemens Tönnies.

As a result of the Corona outbreak, the Schleswig-Holstein SPD parliamentary group leader Ralf Stegner suggests a prison sentence for Clemens Tönnies:

“Real exploitation takes place there. He (Clemens Tönnies) has a lot to do with the fact that we had a corona hotspot there . Such a person does not need government aid through taxpayers' money, they should be held responsible. Perhaps one day he will be given state board and lodging. "

- Ralf Stegner

Resignation from offices at FC Schalke 04 (2020)

After the massive corona outbreak in the Tönnies meat factory in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, fans of FC Schalke 04 demanded Tönnies' withdrawal from the Schalke supervisory board chairmanship, for example with a human chain of around 1000 supporters around the club's premises on June 27, 2020 Tönnies finally followed suit on June 30, 2020 with immediate effect and resigned all offices at FC Schalke 04. In addition to chairing the board of directors, he resigned from the club's economic and emergency committee.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ schalke04.de
  2. ^ Note in the report "This is how Tönnies made his company big", in: Westfalenpost from June 19, 2020, page: Die Region
  3. ^ Bernd Weber: The cutlet emperor from Schalke. In: Bild.de . October 29, 2006, accessed October 18, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Died - Bernd Tönnies. Obituary. In: Der Spiegel, No. 27/1994. July 4, 1994, p. 176 , accessed October 18, 2015 .
  5. ↑ District Court Wiedenbrück, HRA 5243, December 19, 2007.
  6. ↑ Lars Wallrodt: Toennies wants the bowl for his dead brother. In: The world . August 20, 2009, accessed October 18, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Schalke 04 - Tönnies resigns as head of the supervisory board. June 30, 2020, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  8. ↑ # 847 Clemens Toennies. In: Forbes - The World's Billionaires datum = 2019-04-09. Retrieved August 4, 2019 .
  9. ↑ "Likes Eisbeine with salt": Tönnies reveals Putin's culinary preferences. In: Focus. April 27, 2015, accessed August 10, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Hunters and Hunted - Clemens Tönnies under pressure. In: RP Online. October 18, 1012, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Fine against Clemens Tönnies for incomplete registration of a merger. In: Bundeskartellamt . January 15, 2013, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Martin Hesse, Gerald Traufetter: Ex and hopp. In: Der Spiegel, No. 39/2014. September 22, 2014, pp. 66–68 , accessed October 18, 2015 .
  13. ^ Lutz Ackermann, Benedikt Becker, Manuel Daubenberger, Philip Faigle, Karsten Polke-Majewski, Felix Rohrbeck, Christian Salewski, Oliver Schröm: The greatest tax robbery in German history. In: The time. June 8, 2017.
  14. ↑ Michael Gassmann: Tönnies writes legal history with the "Wurst-Lücke". In: Welt Online . October 19, 2016, accessed August 4, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Thomas Fischer: Tönnies, Wurst and Wahn. In: Spiegel Online. August 15, 2019, accessed July 1, 2020.
  16. ↑ Marc Schröder: Outrage over Tönnie's racist slogan - Schalke honorary council checks statements. In: nw.de. August 3, 2019, accessed August 5, 2019 .
  17. ↑ quote. Press office. BMJ , August 4, 2019, accessed on August 14, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Daniel Theweleit: Tönnies and the "world view of a big game hunter". faz.net , August 5, 2019, accessed August 6, 2019 .
  19. ↑ DFB ethics committee will deal with Tönnies. In: Spiegel Online. August 4, 2019, accessed July 1, 2020.
  20. ↑ a b "I was shocked by Tönnies' contemptuous words". In: Spiegel Online. August 5, 2019, accessed August 5, 2019 .
  21. ↑ World Jewish Congress calls for Tönnies to resign. In: Jüdische Allgemeine. 4th August 2019.
  22. ↑ Tönnies' statements are inexcusable for many. In: tagesschau.de. August 5, 2019, accessed August 5, 2019 .
  23. ↑ Tonnies affair: Toporzysekat resigns from Council of Honor. In: Westfälischer Anzeiger. September 19, 2019, accessed July 1, 2020.
  24. ↑ Kim Böß: Reactions to Tönnies' remarks about Africa. In: Weser courier. August 6, 2019.
  25. ↑ Albert Funk: “Also endure disgusting opinions” in: Tagesspiegel . 5th August 2019.
  26. ↑ Merkel's Africa representative calls for a debate on Tönnies' statements. In: Die Welt , Aug. 7, 2019. Retrieved on August 7, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Tönnies: All of Germany looks at the Schalke Honorary Council . wdr.de, accessed on August 6, 2019.
  28. ↑ Schalke Honorary Council considers accusations of racism against Tönnies to be "unfounded". Focus Online, accessed August 6, 2019 .
  29. ↑ So the Schalke mission statement is worthless , Westfälische Anzeiger, Aug. 7, 2019.
  30. ↑ Reactions to Tönnies decision: Fans criticize “punishment” , NOZ, Aug. 7, 2019.
  31. ↑ Schalke Honorary Council rejects allegations , RP online, August 9, 2019.
  32. ↑ It is embarrassing that Tönnies makes his own judgment , Kicker, Aug. 7, 2019.
  33. ^ The yellow card , Fanzine Schalke Unser , 4th Sep. 2019.
  34. ↑ Corona outbreak in the Gütersloh district: tests by mobile teams. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. June 22, 2020, accessed July 1, 2020.
  35. ↑ Dispute after the corona outbreak: Robert Tönnies calls for his uncle to resign. In: Spiegel online. June 17, 2020, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  36. ↑ Frank Gerstenberg: "Tönnies is to blame": After the Corona outbreak, angry parents attack meat boss. In: Focus. June 16, 2020, accessed July 1, 2020.
  37. ^ Clemens Tönnies blocked initiatives by his nephew and co-owner Robert. In: Wirtschaftswoche. June 23, 2020, accessed July 1, 2020.
  38. ↑ https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/coronavirus-ralf-stegner-spekuly-ueber-moegliche-haftstrafe-fuer-clemens-toennies-a-5916dd96-8496-4336-b83e-ccf0ca6b8087
  39. ↑ https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article211512699/Ralf-Stegner-spekuly-ueber-moegliche-Haftstrafe-fuer-Toennies.html
  40. ↑ https://www.noz.de/deutschland-welt/politik/artikel/2086629/ralf-stegner-spekuly-ueber-haftstrafe-fuer-toennies-staatliche-kost-und-logis
  41. ↑ Demo against Tönnies and the board of directors at Schalke. In: tz.de , July 27, 2020, accessed on July 1, 2020.
  42. ↑ Oliver Müller: On Schalke the resistance against Tönnies is forming. In: The world. June 26, 2020, accessed July 1, 2020.
  43. ↑ Christoph Ruf: "Schalke is not a slaughterhouse". In: Spiegel Online. June 26, 2020, accessed July 1, 2020.
  44. ↑ Felix Strerath: FC Schalke 04: Anger, Demo & Posters - Protests against Tönnies escalate! With THESE words the association expresses itself. In: DerWesten. June 24, 2020, accessed July 1, 2020.
  45. ↑ Florian Bajus: The next Tönnies scandal: The only right thing would be to step down from Schalke. In: 90min.de , June 22, 2020, accessed on July 1, 2020.
  46. ↑ Carolin Blüchel: ranSicht: Tönnies has become intolerable for Schalke 04. In: ran.de , June 21, 2020, accessed July 1, 2020.
  47. ↑ Jan Göbel, Gerhard Pfeil: Debt and a pile of broken glass. In: Spiegel Online. June 30, 2020, accessed July 1, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Tönnies, Clemens
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur and football official
DATE OF BIRTH May 27, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Rheda