German billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuehne dies at age 89

By Ludwig Burger ‌and Friederike Heine

FRANKFURT, ​Aug ​24 (Reuters) - German investor Klaus-Michael Kuehne, the controlling shareholder of Swiss logistics group ‌Kuehne + Nagel, has died aged 89, the ⁠company said on Monday.

Kuehne, the grandson of company co-founder ‌August Kuehne, also held ‌major stakes in German groups Lufthansa, Hapag-Lloyd and chemicals trade group Brenntag as well as ​bus and train services operator Flix.

A dominant figure in global shipping and logistics, he ⁠transformed Kuehne + Nagel from a family freight forwarder into one of ​the world's largest logistics groups and amassed a fortune that made him one ​of Germany's richest investors.

His ‌holdings are worth more than $44.2 billion, according to Forbes.

He became CEO of ⁠Kuehne and Nagel in 1975 and was the chairman of its board of directors between 1992 ⁠and 2011.

With strong family ties to northern Germany, Kuehne formed ​a group of investors that agreed to buy Hapag-Lloyd's Hamburg-based container shipping business from TUI in 2008 to ‌prevent it from getting folded into a global rival.

A commanding presence ‌among German family investors, he later acquired 20% ⁠of the voting ‌rights in German ​flagship carrier Lufthansa Group.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Friederike Heine; Editing by Kirsten ‌Donovan)

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