Logistics magnate and (formerly) Germany's richest man, Klaus-Michael Kühne spent his life buying and rescuing companies on the downturn. It was a strategy that led him to build the world's single most successful air and sea forwarder, Kühne+Nagel.
Along the way, he also picked up significant stakes in three other transport giants, including Hapag-Lloyd, one of the world's biggest container shipping lines, and Lufthansa, Germany's flag carrier.
He also briefly owned a fifth of VTG, Europe's largest private wagon-hire company, buying in for €160 million in 2016 and selling two years later for €300 million.
It turns out he had one more deal lined up, and he closed it the moment he passed away.
Kühne had no children or direct lines of inheritance set up, so when he died on 24 August 2026, his $49 billion (€42.2bn) fortune did not need to pass through a will, a court or a tax office.
