The 85-year-old German citizen from Hamburg is now Switzerland’s richest resident, according to the latest ranking by Forbes magazineExternal link reports the SonntagsZeitung. He is the majority owner and honorary chairman of logistics giant Kühne + Nagel co-founded by his grandfather in 1958.
Kühne is also a major shareholder in the Lufthansa Group (17.5% stake) and the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd (30% stake). His race to the top has been helped by the logistics boom following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The billionaire lives in the villages of Schindellegi in low tax canton Schwyz just south of Zurich city. Kühne + Nagel is one of the largest taxpayers in the canton.
Football is one of his hobbies and he is a minority owner of football club Hamburger S.V that plays in the second division of the German professional football league.
The richest Swiss citizen, according to Forbes, is Rafaela Aponte-Diamant with a fortune estimated at $31.2 billion. The 78-year-old Geneva resident scrapes into the global top 50 in 43rd place. Aponte-Diamant and her husband own a 50% stake each in the world’s largest shipping company MSC.
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In 1985, five European states laid the foundations for a common area without border controls. Switzerland joined in 2008.
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