Stephan Gemkow studied business administration at the University of Paderborn and at the St. Olaf College in Minnesota, USA.
From 1988 to 1990 he worked as a management consultant at BDO Deutsche Warentreuhand AG in Hamburg.
Between 1990 and 2012, he held various management positions at Deutsche Lufthansa AG in Frankfurt and Washington, such as Sales Manager, Head of Investor Relations, Head of Corporate Finance and Chief Financial Officer and Human Resources for the Cargo division which he accompanied through a major reorganisation. From 2006 to 2012, Mr Gemkow served as Chief Financial Officer and member of the Management Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG which he successfully lead through growth, global expansion as well as the financial crisis.
In 2012, he took the position of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Franz Haniel & Cie., one of the largest family-owned investment holdings, based in Germany, where he drove the company through important restructuring and investment phases in a complex stakeholder management context and where he remained until June 2019.
Mr Gemkow furthermore served as Chairman on the Supervisory Boards of TAKKT AG and Celesio AG (now known as McKesson Europe AG), and as member of the Supervisory Board of Evonik Industries AG.
Since 2018, Mr Gemkow serves as non-executive member of the Board of Directors of Amadeus IT Group, a major IT provider for the global travel and tourism industry listed on the Spanish stock exchange. Mr Gemkow is also a Non-Executive Director of Flughafen Zürich AG, a SIX Swiss Exchange listed company owning and operating the Zurich Airport, and of JetBlue Airways Corporation, a NASDAQ listed major American low-cost airline. Mr Gemkow also serves as non-executive member of the Board of Directors of C.D. Waelzholz GmbH & Co. KG.
Current mandates: