Shipping tycoon Klaus-Michael Kuehne dies at 89 in Switzerland

Klaus-Michael Kuehne, who expanded the Kuehne + Nagel International AG transport company into one of the world's biggest sea and air freight forwarders and became Germany's wealthiest individual, has died. He was 89.

His death, in his longtime hometown of Schindellegi, near Zurich in Switzerland, was confirmed by the company on Monday. "With the passing of Klaus-Michael, we have lost a visionary, a great entrepreneur and an extraordinary personality," Kuehne + Nagel Chairman Joerg Wolle said. "Our thoughts are with his widow Christine Kuehne."

Profits soared during the Covid-19 pandemic, when supply chains buckled and freight transport rates skyrocketed. Among freight carriers with expertise in shipping health-care products, Kuehne + Nagel was a major mover of vaccines. It also increased business when stuck-at-home consumers ordered goods.


Kuehne's net worth, rooted in his 55% ownership of Kuehne + Nagel, was $49 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.