Lufthansa's largest shareholder Klaus-Michael Kühne dies at 89

Klaus-Michael Kühne, the logistics entrepreneur who became Lufthansa's largest individual shareholder, has died at 89 in Schindellegi, Switzerland.

His involvement with the German carrier came relatively late in life. His family's Kühne Holding first acquired a stake in Lufthansa in 2022 and expanded it steadily in the years that followed. By May of this year, the holding controlled 20 percent of Lufthansa shares, up from 15.01 percent previously, making it the airline's biggest single investor. Karl Gernandt, representing the holding, sits on Lufthansa's supervisory board.

Kühne was known for speaking bluntly about the airline when he disagreed with its direction. He criticized Lufthansa's multi-brand strategy as confusing and said the group too often failed to deliver on promises made to customers. He also objected to what he saw as excessive reliance on wet-lease arrangements.

His business career began long before his entry into aviation. Kühne joined the family firm Kühne + Nagel, co-founded by his grandfather in 1890, in 1958. He took over as chairman of the company's management board in 1966 and led Kühne + Nagel International from 1975. He chaired the firm's board of directors from 1992 to 2011, then held the title of honorary president.

His death closes a decades-long career in logistics, one that, in his final years, extended into a prominent and sometimes contentious role in shaping the future of one of Europe's largest airline groups.