The Thiele family from Germany controls Knorr-Bremse AG, the world’s leading manufacturer of braking systems for commercial vehicles and rail. The family also owns 50 per cent of the railroad equipment producer, Vossloh, and has an estimated net worth of $13.5 billion.
Heinz Hermann Thiele began working at Knorr-Bremse in 1969 in the patent and legal department. In 1975, he oversaw the expansion of the company’s commercial vehicle division and was appointed to the firm’s executive board in 1979.
Heinz Hermann acquired the company through share purchases in 1985 and was appointed chairman of the supervisory board in 2007. He retired from the company’s operational duties in 2016 but remains honorary chairman of the supervisory board.
Heinz Hermann’s son, Dr Henrik Thiele, co-founded the game theory-based consultancy firm, TWS, in 2001 and joined Knorr-Bremse’s executive board in 2011. He left the company in 2015 and currently leads development projects for new transportation systems and electric vehicles in Munich.
His sister, Julia Thiele-Schürhoff, serves on Knorr-Bremse’s supervisory board and heads the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility division.
