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Germany: death of billionaire Heinz Hermann Thiele, Lufthansa's largest shareholder

2021-02-23T20:46:33.833Z


The German billionaire Heinz Hermann Thiele, largest shareholder of the airline Lufthansa, has died at the age of 79, announced Tuesday the company, Knorr-Bremse, which allowed him to make a fortune. Read also: Alitalia: in case of takeover, Rome is considering the sale of the assets of the airline to Lufthansa Capitalist "of the caves" for the unions, "patriarch" of the German economy for other


The German billionaire Heinz Hermann Thiele, largest shareholder of the airline Lufthansa, has died at the age of 79, announced Tuesday the company, Knorr-Bremse, which allowed him to make a fortune.

Read also: Alitalia: in case of takeover, Rome is considering the sale of the assets of the airline to Lufthansa

Capitalist

"of the caves"

for the unions,

"patriarch"

of the German economy for others, Heinz Hermann Thiele died on Tuesday in Munich

"surrounded by his family,"

the company said in a statement.

Heinz Hermann Thiele, one of the richest men in Germany, had notably become in 2020 the largest shareholder of Lufthansa, the largest European air transport group, with 15.5% of the capital.

This businessman with strong opinions had as such battled in June against the federal government and its desire to acquire a 20% stake in the company, in exchange for a massive aid plan to cope to the coronavirus pandemic.

15 billion euros of fortune

Married with two children, this lawyer by training began his career in 1969 as an employee of the patent office at Knorr-Bremse, a company specializing in brakes.

He saved it from bankruptcy by buying it on credit in the 1980s. Raised to the rank of market leader in brakes for rail transport and heavy goods vehicles, the company - where the working time is 42 hours unlike the 35 hours practiced by the sector - has become the founding instrument of its fortune.

It was estimated in 2020 by Forbes magazine at 15 billion euros.

Heinz Hermann Thiele had also made a name for himself outside the economic sphere with controversial statements.

Vladimir Poutine is

"perhaps not an exemplary democrat but a very competent politician"

, he had thus declared to the Manager Magazin.

At the height of the euro crisis in 2013, he also regretted that the German far-right Europhobic party AfD had failed to enter the national parliament.

Source: lefigaro

All business articles on 2021-02-23

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