Jürgen Thumann

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Jürgen Thumann (2012)

Jürgen R. Thumann (born August 17, 1941 in Schwelm ) is a German entrepreneur and was president of the European employers' association Businesseurope from 2009 to 2013 . From 2005 to 2009 he was President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI). He is chairman of the advisory board of the Heitkamp & Thumann Group in Düsseldorf and was chairman of the supervisory board of Heitkamp BauHolding GmbH in Herne and is currently active in other corporate bodies and associations.

Life

Jürgen R. Thumann comes from an entrepreneurial family. His father had been running a metal trading and metal processing company in Schwelm since 1925 - the Thumann Stahl Service Center . His maternal great-grandfather founded a construction company in Wanne in 1892 , which was long run by Thumann's cousin, Engelbert Heitkamp .

Jürgen R. Thumann completed his school education with secondary school leaving certificate, then completed an apprenticeship as a wholesale and foreign trade clerk until 1960 . When his father died unexpectedly in October 1960, at the early age of 19 and just finished his apprenticeship, he joined his parents' company as a managing, personally liable partner. The mother had declared the minor (according to the law at the time) to be of age, his godfather Robert Heitkamp was at his side. “That made me an entrepreneur! A decision that I have never regretted, although it was the most difficult of my life! "( Thumann )

Thumann was successful and expanded the company continuously - from one to three plants, from 40 million to 300 million marks in sales. In 1992 he sold the company to the Dutch steel group Hoogovens , which is now part of Tata Steel .

In 1966, Thumann had already joined his father-in-law's company - the Hille & Müller Group in Düsseldorf . It was a cold rolling mill with surface finishing that also produced internationally. In 1975 Thumann became a personally liable partner and chairman of the management. He expanded the company, took the Dutch group Hoogovens as a partner in the company, and in 1997 also sold this company to Hoogovens - just like his parents' business before. In 1978 he and his cousin Engelbert Heitkamp founded Heitkamp & Thumann KG - today: Heitkamp & Thumann Group in Düsseldorf.

In 1998 Thumann retired from the top of group management, has been chairman of the advisory board since then and stepped up his activities in the BDI .

The Heitkamp & Thumann Group from Düsseldorf unites over 20 medium-sized companies under the umbrella of a holding company, which are organized into four business areas (H&T Battery Components, Presspart, H&T Automotive Components (a plant in this area was sold to Johnson Controls in 2008), Corporate Enterprises) . The group's companies operate in specialized markets for metal and plastics processing and are among Germany's "hidden champions" who, as quasi-monopolists, offer ingenious products on the world market. "We are looking for market niches in which we have the chance to become world market leader." ( Thumann )

With a total of almost 2,000 employees in production facilities and sales offices in Germany, England, the USA, Singapore, the Czech Republic, Spain, Dubai, India, Brazil and China, the company currently generates around 368 million euros in sales (2014). 13 percent of the activities are in the USA, 66 percent in Europe and 20 percent in Asia. The top product are battery cases, which are ordered by almost all battery manufacturers. Thumann himself puts the world market share at "well over 50 percent".

In February 2009, Thumann took over the majority of the shares in Heitkamp BauHolding GmbH from his cousin, of which he was chairman.

From 2008 to 2014, Thumann was a member of the ThyssenKrupp Supervisory Board .

In August 2010, Thumann positioned himself as one of 40 signatories of the Energy Policy Appeal , a lobbying initiative of the four large electricity companies to promote the extension of the service life of German nuclear power plants.

Association activity

In addition to his entrepreneurial activity, Thumann has been involved in the trade associations for steel and metal processing since 1991 . In 2001 he became President of the German Steel and Metalworking Association. V. / WSM - a member association of the BDI - elected. Thumann is today honorary president of the WSM. He has been a member of the BDI Presidium since 1991. On November 29, 2004, at the suggestion of his predecessor Michael Rogowski , the then 63-year-old was elected BDI President for two years . On November 20, 2006, the general assembly of the BDI confirmed him as President for a further two years. 156 of the 162 members voted for him in secret ballot (six abstentions). At the end of 2008 his successor Hans-Peter Keitel took over the office.

From 2008 to 2012, Thumann was co-chair of the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogues (TABD).

From 2009 to 2013 Thumann was president of the European employers' association Businesseurope .

In addition to business associations, Thumann was also involved in equestrian sports. The passionate team driver was from 2001 to 2005 President of the German Equestrian Association , the umbrella organization of 7,300 riding and driving clubs with a total of around 760,000 members. For the office of the BDI President, Thumann gave up the presidency of the riders.

criticism

In October 2006 Jürgen Thumann had to face the accusation based on the grasshopper debate that he was "worse than a grasshopper". Peter Trapp, the works council chairman of the company Spedition Dehnhardt in Meinerzhagen , which belongs to Jürgen Thumann, accused Thumann of "bleeding the company systematically". According to Trapps, a second company owned by Jürgen Thumann would have taken over the company's 120 trucks for 3.7 million euros (30,000 euros per truck) after the forwarding company made losses and then brought the company close to bankruptcy through leasing fees and rental costs.

Honors

Private

Jürgen R. Thumann had been married since 1963, is widowed and has two daughters. In August 2014 Thumann married the industrialist Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler in Kitzbühel.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ WAZ of August 4, 2010
  2. ↑ Cevian manager to move into the supervisory board , handelsblatt.com, November 19, 2014
  3. ^ TABD Co-Chairs. transatlanticbusiness.org, accessed February 26, 2020 . }
  4. ↑ Handelsblatt of March 26 , 2009 , accessed on January 22, 2020
  5. ↑ Emma Marcegaglia to succeed Jürgen R. Thumann as President of Business Europe. (pdf) businesseurope.eu, April 11, 2013, accessed on February 26, 2020 (English).
  6. ^ BDI boss before bankruptcy , Der Spiegel from October 9, 2006, accessed on February 25, 2014
  7. ↑ Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 64, No. 9, January 17, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Billionaire wedding - Schaeffler flittert on cruise ship" ( Memento of August 23, 2014 Internet Archive ), br.de, accessed on August 21, 2014

Web links

Commons : Jürgen Thumann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Thumann, Jürgen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thumann, Jürgen R.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur, President of the Federation of German Industry
DATE OF BIRTH August 17, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Schwelm