About Heinz Hermann Thiele & family
Heinz Hermann Thiele's Knorr-Bremse AG is the world's leading manufacturer of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles.
Coming from modest means and working his way through law school, Thiele joined the firm's legal department in the late 1960s and took over control in the mid-1980s.
He withdrew from operational duties in 2007, chaired the supervisory board, was named honorary chairman in 2016, and took the company public in 2018.
Son Henrik, who was supposed to join Knorr-Bremse's board in July of 2015, suddenly left the company due to differences with his father.
Thiele also owns 50% of railroad equipment maker Vossloh; he left his position as head of the company's advisory board in 2017.
Personal stats
Citizenship
GermanySource of wealth
brakesBirth date
04/02/41Number of children
2Education
LLM, University of MunichSelf-made
self-madeHeinz Hermann Thiele & family’s fortune is worth
300K
troy ounces of gold
277K
median U.S. household
180K
median U.S. income
0.36%
U.S. credit card volume
0.072%
GDP of the United States
0.053%
United States debt
Net worth history
Annual ranking
Did you know?
Daughter Julia runs his charity organization, Knorr-Bremse Global Care, which supports education and water hygiene projects in countries where the company is active.
Net worth over time
Real-time ranking
Financial assets
XETRA | KBX-DE
Knorr-BremseXETRA | VOS-DE
Vossloh AGImages © Forbes.com. All rights reserved.