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Klaus-Michael Kuehne, the German billionaire who built Kuehne + Nagel into one of the world's largest logistics companies and became one of Germany's richest investors, has died at the age of 89, the company said.
Kuehne, the grandson of the freight forwarder's co-founder August Kuehne, was the controlling shareholder of the Swiss-based group and a dominant figure in global shipping and logistics for decades. Forbes valued his holdings at more than $44.2 billion.
He became chief executive of Kuehne + Nagel in 1975 and served as chairman of its board from 1992 to 2011, steering the company from a family freight business into a global operator moving goods by sea, air and land across the world. The group, headquartered near Zurich, employs tens of thousands of people and ranks among the biggest freight forwarders in the world.
Beyond the family firm, Kuehne assembled a sprawling portfolio of transport and industrial holdings. He held major stakes in the German airline Lufthansa, the container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd, the chemicals distribution group Brenntag and the bus and rail operator Flix, the parent of FlixBus.
His influence was felt most keenly in his home region of northern Germany. In 2008, he brought together a group of investors to buy Hapag-Lloyd's Hamburg-based container shipping business from the tourism group TUI, a move designed to keep the storied carrier from being absorbed into a foreign rival. The intervention cemented his reputation as a guardian of German industrial assets.
He later built a commanding position in Lufthansa, acquiring 20 percent of the voting rights in the flagship carrier and becoming one of its most influential shareholders during a turbulent period for global aviation.
Kuehne combined the instincts of a long-term owner with a willingness to place large bets on strategic assets, an approach that set him apart among Germany's family investors. Much of his fortune remained tied to Kuehne + Nagel, whose shares he controlled through a holding company, giving him enduring sway over one of the pillars of global trade.
His death removes one of the last of a generation of German industrialists who shaped the country's postwar business landscape. The company did not immediately give a cause of death or say how his controlling stake would be managed.
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