Dusseldorf In 1969, Heinz Hermann Thiele took up a position in the patent department at Knorr- Bremse, and 15 years later he was CEO of the automotive supplier. When the owner then asked Thiele to find a buyer for the ailing company, one of the greatest success stories in the German economy began.
Thiele persuaded Deutsche Bank to let him buy Knorr- Bremse on credit. The trained lawyer then expanded the company into a global corporation. When Thiele died in 2021, Knorr- Bremse sales were 25 times higher than at the beginning of his business adventure. Thiele also owned a majority stake in the Vossloh rail company and a large block of shares in Lufthansa.
Today, a bitter dispute is raging over his €17 billion inheritance. His son is suing for 4.5 billion euros, but he fell out with his father in 2015 and was fobbed off with 25 million euros in 2017. His father was an extreme burden for him, says Henrik Thiele. He describes his death as liberation.
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Thiele’s widow Nadia is not happy either. She should only play a supporting role in the foundation, into which the billion inheritance flows. Thiele’s daughter Julia would be a strong woman on the board.
Now the widow is suing against the arrangement – and also against the executor Robin Brühmüller. Her accusation: greed. Brühmüller could bill 250 million euros for his work.
In this podcast, our editors sort the protagonists of the mud fight and trace the lines of contention. It’s getting intense.
Handelsblatt Crime appears every 14 days and can be heard wherever there are podcasts.
More: You can hear the previous episode of Handelsblatt Crime here