Klaus Zumwinkel


Klaus Peter Richard Otto Zumwinkel was Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Deutsche Post between 1990 and 2008. Being under suspicion of tax fraud, he resigned from office on February 15, 2008. He was convicted in January 2009, and given a suspended sentence of two years imprisonment and fined one million euros.

Early life

Zumwinkel was born in Rheinberg, Kreis Moers, Rheinprovinz, which is now in Kreis Wesel, Nordrhein-Westfalen. He attended Gymnasium Adolfinum in Moers and studied business at the University of Münster. Following graduation in 1969, he attended Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania from 1970. He gained his M.Sc. in 1971, and returned to the University of Münster, where he qualified as Dr. rer. pol. in 1973.

Career

Zumwinkel began his career as a consultant with McKinsey in 1974, leaving to become CEO of Quelle in 1984 before subsequently joining the management board of Deutsche Post in 1990.
From 2001 to 2004, Zumwinkel has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Bertelsmann Stiftung.