Klaus-Michael Kühne, the former CEO of family-owned global logistics powerhouse Kuehne+Nagel International AG, died Sunday at the age of 89, the company announced.
Born in Hamburg, Germany, Klaus-Michael Kühne in 1958 joined the company co-founded by his grandfather 68 years earlier in Breman, Germany. In 1966, at age 29, he took over as chief executive officer of K+N Speditions-AG, as the company was called at the time. In 1974, with the internationalization of the business, both K+N and Klaus Michael moved to Switzerland. In 1979, he opened K+N’s first office in China. The company moved its headquarters to its current location in Schindellegi, Switzerland, in 1992, when he also added the chairman’s title. In 1994, Klaus-Michael took the company public on the Swiss stock exchange.
Since 2011, Klaus-Michael has held the position of honorary chairman of the board. He established Kuhne Logistics University in Hamburg and the philanthropic Kühne Foundation.
He owns about 30% of container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd and about 17% of German airline Lufthansa.
He is considered one of the key figures in the logistics industry for helping to expand global trade through air and ocean freight forwarding, warehousing and supply chain management across multiple continents.
“His entrepreneurial outlook was always firmly directed towards the future. He challenged Kuehne+Nagel to think internationally, pursue new opportunities and keep moving forward,” current CEO Stefan Paul said on LinkedIn. “The Management Board and I are deeply conscious of our responsibility to build on what he set in motion: to remain entrepreneurial, embrace change and continue developing Kuehne+Nagel for the future. We will carry this responsibility forward with great respect for our history and the ambition to write the next chapter of Kuehne+Nagel.”
Kuehne+Nagel is one of the top five logistics companies in the world by revenue.
Expressions of respect for his legacy have poured in from around the world.
“For those of us who have devoted much of our professional lives to freight forwarding, logistics, and global supply chains, Klaus-Michael Kühne was one of the defining figures of our industry.
His vision, entrepreneurial spirit, international mindset, and determination to keep moving forward helped shape not only Kuehne+Nagel, but also the evolution of modern global logistics,” wrote Diego Gonzalez Skvasik, CEO of Sterker Group Logistics Brazil, on LinkedIn. “Having spent decades in this industry, I have profound respect for what he built and for the legacy he leaves behind. True industry builders are rare, and their influence extends far beyond any single company — through the standards they set, the ideas they championed, and the generations they inspired.”
Klaus-Michael is survived by his wife Christine.
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