Klaus-Michael Kühne

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Klaus-Michael Kühne at the christening of the Hamburg Express (2012)

Klaus-Michael Kühne (born June 2, 1937 in Hamburg ) is a German entrepreneur and manager . He is a member of the board of directors and majority shareholder of the international logistics service provider Kuehne + Nagel and, together with his parents, a founder of the Kuehne Foundation . He is also known as a shareholder in HSV Fußball AG , to which the professional football department of Hamburger SV has been outsourced since 2014 .

Life

Kühne is the grandson of the company's co-founder August Kühne and the only child of the forwarding agent Alfred Kühne (1895–1981) and his wife Mercedes (1908–2001 in Hamburg, née Greef). He attended the Heinrich Hertz School in Hamburg-Winterhude , where he went to the same class as Wolf Biermann .

After graduating from high school, Kühne completed a two-year apprenticeship as a bank and foreign trade clerk at the Münchmeyer & Co. bank , after which he worked for befriended forwarding companies, shipping companies and ship brokers. In 1958 he joined the forwarding company, at the age of 26 in 1963 he became a personally liable partner ( general partner ) and partner . When Kuehne + Nagel was converted into a stock corporation , he became Chairman of the Board of Management in 1966 and relocated the company's headquarters to Switzerland in 1969.

During the first and second oil price crises , he tried to set up a shipping company, but got into financial difficulties and in 1981 - the year his father died - 50 percent of the shares were sold to the then Lonrho Group for 90 million DM . He bought it back in 1992 for 340 million marks and in 1994 brought Kuehne + Nagel International AG to the stock exchange.

Since 1998 he is no longer Chairman of the Board of Management, but President and Delegate of the Board of Directors. He holds a 55.75 percent stake in Kuehne + Nagel International AG through Kühne Holding AG , which is the sole property of Klaus-Michael Kühne . In 2008 he became a partner in the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd through the Albert Ballin consortium . There he holds 30 percent of the shares. In May 2016, he took over 20.3 percent of the shares in Hamburg-based VTG AG , which he sold again in July 2018.

Kühne has no children and has been married to his wife Christine (* 1938) since 1989. He has lived in Schindellegi in Switzerland, where the headquarters of Kuehne + Nagel is located, since 1975 , but has German citizenship and chooses in Germany.

On November 27, 2008 the WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Act

Kühne Foundation

He is the sole benefactor of the charitable Kühne Foundation ( foundation under Swiss law ), into which he contributes five million Swiss francs a year and which will later support the company's assets.

Kühne Logistics University

Together with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg , he founded the Hamburg School of Logistics in 2003 , which was renamed the Kühne School of Logistics and Management after another major donation in 2007 and from which the Kühne Logistics University emerged . There is also a collaboration with the Technical University of Berlin, which ultimately led to the establishment of the International Logistics Networks Department . In addition, the Kuehne Center for Logistics Management and the Kuehne Foundation Endowed Chair of Logistics Management at WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar are supported by the Kuehne Foundation.

In 2005 Kühne was inducted into the Logistics Hall of Fame . In 2007 he was honored with the honorary title of Professor by the Hamburg Senate for his “sustained commitment to the development and expansion of logistics science in Hamburg and his commitment to the construction of the Elbphilharmonie” .

Commitment to HSV

Kühne is also active as an investor in Hamburger SV . In the summer of 2010, he received 33 percent of the transfer rights to the players Dennis Aogo , Dennis Diekmeier , Paolo Guerrero , Marcell Jansen , Lennard Sowah and Heiko Westermann for 12.5 million euros . In the course of the transfer of Rafael van der Vaart in 2012, for which Kühne gave a loan of 8.5 million euros, Kühne waived these transfer rights and in return received 33 percent of the transfer rights to Rafael van der Vaart.

In August 2014 Kühne gave HSV a loan of 17 million euros to sign new players. On January 22, 2015, Kühne converted a loan of 18.75 million euros into 7.5 percent of the shares in HSV Fußball AG .

For the 2015/16 season, Kühne acquired the naming rights for the HSV stadium and renamed it the Volksparkstadion . He will pay four million euros per season for this until 2019. In addition, Kühne financed the commitment of the player Albin Ekdal in summer 2015 . To replace the stadium loan, Kühne lent HSV 25 million euros in 2015, which HSV repaid the following year after placing a promissory note loan.

On February 6, 2016 it was announced that Kühne's loan of 9.25 million euros had been converted into HSV shares and that he now holds 11 percent of the shares in HSV Fußball AG. In the summer of 2016, Kühne provided HSV with a loan of 38 million euros to sign new players. At the general meeting on January 8, 2017 it was announced that this sum only has to be paid back if HSV qualifies for the European Cup three times in the following six seasons.

As part of a capital increase, Kühne acquired 312,500 additional shares for 15 million euros in April 2017 in order to secure the license for the first and second Bundesliga. As a result, his stake in HSV Fußball AG grew from 11 to 17 percent. In July 2017, he increased his stake to 20.57 percent. In August 2017, Kühne announced in an interview with Spiegel that he had made 25 million euros available to HSV in the summer of 2017 for transfers and salaries.

In June 2018, Kühne announced in an interview with Sport Bild that he no longer wanted to support HSV financially in the future and described this decision as "sustainable".

Criticism, political statements

Kühne is repeatedly criticized for having relocated his residence and his company to the very tax-advantageous canton of Schwyz , but at the same time increasingly portraying himself as a patron and local entrepreneur in Hamburg. Particular mention should be made of his involvement in Hamburger SV , the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd , the Hotel The Fontenay , the Kühne Logistics University and the Elbphilharmonie , whose construction he supported with five million euros. Kühne himself described this commitment as a possible compensation for lost tax revenue. However, it does not take into account that the use of tax money is not subject to the decision of the tax debtor and also takes place without public recognition or honor. Kühne himself once said in this context that he had nothing against taxes, he "would just like to have the feeling that they are being spent on the right things".

In an interview at the end of November 2019 in Welt am Sonntag , Kühne expressed fundamental sympathy for the Greens and especially for a Federal Chancellor Robert Habeck : “I can imagine Mr Habeck as Federal Chancellor of a green-black coalition. If you look at the parties in Germany, then the Greens are the only bearers of hope. "Kühne combined his praise with criticism of the federal government:" The federal government gives a desolate picture. You can't do it any worse. "

capital

With an estimated private fortune of around 12.9 billion US dollars , Kühne was ranked 10th in the list of the richest Germans in 2019 and number 101 worldwide.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The founder. In: kuehne-stiftung.org. Kühne Foundation . Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  2. ↑ Hans Jaeger: Kühne, Alfred. In: deutsche-biographie.de. Neue Deutsche Biographie 13, 1982, p. 199 f. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  3. ↑ Mercedes Kühne, b. Greef. ( Memento from April 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) In: ancestry.com. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  4. ↑ Stefan Grund: What connects Wolf Biermann with Klaus-Michael Kühne. In: Abendblatt.de. Hamburger Abendblatt , November 14, 2013, accessed on June 10, 2016.
  5. ↑ Birger Nicolai: Billionaire Kühne - "I don't want to do business with HSV". In: welt.de. Die Welt , September 16, 2012, accessed June 10, 2016.
  6. ↑ Entrepreneur - Dark Urge. In: spiegel.de. February 9, 1982, accessed June 10, 2016.
  7. ↑ Wilfried Kratz: Descent of a Magnate. In: zeit.de. Die Zeit , January 31, 1992. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  8. ↑ Kühne buys back freight company, British conglomerate Lonrho sells 50 percent package. In: Abendblatt.de. Hamburger Abendblatt , January 24, 1992 (PDF).
  9. ↑ Klaus-Michael Kühne. ( Memento from November 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: wiwo.de. Wirtschaftswoche . Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  10. ↑ Shareholder structure of hapag-lloyd.com
  11. ↑ Kühne cashes in: Shares in traditional Hamburg company sold Abendblatt.de, July 17, 2018
  12. ↑ a b Birger Nicolai: “The government gives a desolate picture. It doesn't get any worse ”. Die Welt , November 24, 2019, accessed on January 3, 2020 (interview).
  13. ↑ Kühne - the full droning HSV stern.de, October 25, 2014.
  14. ↑ Honorary title Professor for Klaus-Michael Kühne. In: property-magazine.de. December 10, 2007, accessed July 2, 2014.
  15. ↑ Will Klaus-Michael Kühne become the second Dietmar Hopp? In: goal.com. June 23, 2012, accessed July 2, 2014.
  16. ^ End of cooperation with investor Kühne , In: faz.net. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , August 26, 2010, accessed on July 2, 2014.
  17. ↑ a b How much boldness is there in Hamburger SV? , In: abendblatt.de. Hamburger Abendblatt , May 19, 2016, accessed on January 5, 2017.
  18. ↑ Billionaire and Fan - This is how Kühne made the Rafa return possible In: mopo.de. Hamburger Morgenpost , August 31, 2012, accessed on January 5, 2017.
  19. ↑ 17 million for HSV , In: faz.net. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , August 4, 2014, accessed on January 5, 2017.
  20. ↑ Kühne coal for HSV - 69 million euros in six years , In: mopo.de. Hamburger Morgenpost , April 30, 2016, accessed on January 5, 2017.
  21. ↑ Albin Ekdal and the central question at HSV , In: abendblatt.de. Hamburger Abendblatt , July 28, 2016, accessed on January 5, 2017.
  22. ↑ HSV places EUR 40 million bond. In: kicker.de. Kicker-Sportmagazin , September 14, 2016, accessed on January 5, 2017.
  23. ^ HSV: Fresh money and a new Kühne deal. In: kicker.de. Kicker-Sportmagazin , February 6, 2016, accessed on June 10, 2016.
  24. ↑ Balance sheet published - Kühne gave the HSV 38 million euros , In: mopo.de. Hamburger Morgenpost , December 19, 2016, accessed on January 5, 2017.
  25. ↑ Todts Challenges - HSV announces Kühne-Detail. In: kicker.de. Kicker-Sportmagazin , January 8, 2017, accessed on January 8, 2017.
  26. ↑ Hamburger SV: HSV fulfills license requirements for Bundesliga and 2nd division , May 11, 2017, accessed on May 11, 2017.
  27. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt: Kühne secures the license with a fresh 15 million euros , May 11, 2017, accessed on May 11, 2017.
  28. ↑ Die Welt: HSV is as good as sold out , November 11, 2017, accessed on November 11, 2017.
  29. ↑ Jörg Kramer, Udo Ludwig: "Luschen" . In: Der Spiegel " , August 19, 2017, No. 34, p. 114 ff.
  30. ↑ "I will no longer support the association" , spiegel.de, accessed on June 27, 2018
  31. ↑ Henning Bleyl: The Kühne story: How a traditional company celebrates an anniversary: ​​Kühne & Sohn . In: The daily newspaper . ( taz.de [accessed on August 17, 2017]).
  32. ↑ Billionaire Kühne sees donations as reparation . In: Hamburger Abendblatt . ( Abendblatt.de [accessed on August 17, 2017]).
  33. ↑ "I have nothing against taxes" . In: Manager Magazin . ( manager-magazin.de [accessed on January 3, 2020]).
  34. ^ The World's Billionaires. In: forbes.com. , accessed on December 19, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Kühne, Klaus-Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur and manager
DATE OF BIRTH June 2, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg , German Empire