Michael Frenzel (born 2 March 1947) is a German business executive. He was the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of TUI AG from 1994 to 2013. Since 2018 he is a

World Travel and Tourism Council The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is a forum for the travel and tourism industry. It is made up of members from the global business community and works with governments to raise awareness about the travel and tourism industry. It is know ...

ambassador. He studied law and holds a doctorate.

Early life and education

Frenzel was born in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, at the time in

Allied-occupied Germany Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and ...

, on 2 March 1947. When aged nine, he escaped to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

with his father and lived in a refugee camp for three years. He attended the

Ruhr University Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...

, studying law. He worked at the university as a

scientific assistant A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

, and graduated with a doctoral degree in law.

Career

He joined Westdeutsche Landesbank in 1981. In 1988 Frenzel joined

Preussag AG TUI Group is a German leisure, travel and tourism company. TUI is an acronym for ''Touristik Union International'' ("Tourism Union International"). TUI AG was known as Preussag, Preussag AG until 1997 when the company changed its activities from ...

as an executive responsible for trading and logistics. He was promoted to the position of

in January 1994. During his time as chief executive, Frenzel transformed the company from an industrial conglomerate into a travel services company. He oversaw Preussag's acquisition of

Hapag-Lloyd Hapag-Lloyd AG is a German international shipping and container transportation company. Hapag-Lloyd was formed in 1970 through a merger of Hamburg-American Line (HAPAG) and North German Lloyd. History The company was formed on September 1, 19 ...

in 1997. In 2000, he oversaw Preussag's £1.8 billion takeover of Thomson Travel. The company also acquired the German tourism operator TUI in 1998 and the French firm Nouvelles Frontières. After these acquisitions, Preussag was Europe's leading tourism operator. In July 2002, Preussag was rebranded as TUI, short for Touristik Union International, the name of a subsidiary it had bought previously. Frenzel retired from TUI in February 2013, succeeded by

Friedrich Joussen Friedrich Peter Johannes Joussen (born 19 April 1963) is a German businessman, and the executive chairman (''Vorstandsvorsitzender'') of TUI Group (''Touristik Union International''). Early life He was born in Duisburg in North Rhine-Westphalia ...

. He became a

ambassador in 2018. He has served on the supervisory boards of several large German companies, including

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post ...

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the ...

, and Norddeutsche Landesbank. He is a member of the

International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization A business entity is an entity that is formed and administered as per corporate law in order ...

Personal life

Frenzel lives outside

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. He and his wife Gabi have three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frenzel, Michael German chief executives Businesspeople in tourism TUI Group 1947 births 20th-century German businesspeople 21st-century German businesspeople Living people Ruhr University Bochum alumni Businesspeople from Leipzig