Dietmar Kuhnt

Dietmar Kuhnt (born November 16, 1937 in Breslau ) is a German manager and lawyer. From January 1995 to February 1, 2003 he was the chairman of the board of RWE AG .

From 1957 to 1961 Dietmar Kuhnt studied law at the University of Cologne and the University of Freiburg . In 1961 he did his doctorate in Freiburg in the field of criminal law and passed his second state examination in 1966 . In 1966 he initially worked as an audit assistant at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Essen, (later taken over by PwC ), from which he moved in 1968 as legal advisor in the legal department of the main administration of Rheinisch-Westfälische Elektrizitätswerk AG, Essen. In 1989 he became a member of the Board of Management of RWE Energie AG, which at that time comprised the entire electricity business of the RWE Group, and in 1992 he became CEO of RWE Energie AG. In 1995 he became CEO of RWE AG, the holding company of the RWE Group.

He was also chairman of the supervisory board of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG , the construction company Hochtief AG, member of the supervisory board of Allianz Versicherungs-AG , Dresdner Bank , GEA Group and Hapag-Lloyd .

Under his leadership, the RWE Group expanded significantly, but mainly through purchased growth. Major acquisitions were made by Thames Water (largest water supplier in Great Britain), Transgas (gas supplier in the Czech Republic), Innogy (today npower, electricity supplier in Great Britain) and in 2003 American Water (largest water supplier in the USA). In the electricity industry, which had come under pressure from liberalization, he succeeded in merging RWE (Essen) and VEW (Dortmund) in 2000 . Since RWE could no longer grow in the electricity and gas business, it relied on a so-called multi-utility strategy , which included electricity, gas, water and disposal, with the water business being bought in completely.

Critics accused him of neglecting growth in the core business and of leaving his successor with a mountain of debt (of € 26 billion during the year) through acquisitions that were too expensive. In addition, he did not succeed in integrating the acquired companies into the RWE Group.

In November 2003 he received the Burda Bambi award in the business category, which he received for his successful, multi-million dollar RWE image campaign “imagine”.

On February 28, 2003, Kuhnt left RWE and retired. At the suggestion of the chairman of the supervisory board Friedel Neuber , Shell manager Harry Roels succeeded him.

Web links

• Biography at whoswho.de
• CV at tui-group.com