TUI’s current Chief Financial Officer Sebastian Ebel will become the Group’s new CEO effective October 1st, 2022, succeeding Fritz Joussen, who has been the company’s CEO for around 10 years.
On Friday (June 24, 2022), TUI Group announced that the company’s Presiding Committee of the Supervisory Board has appointed company Chief Financial Officer Sebastian Ebel as TUI’s new CEO effective October 1st, 2022 for a period of three years. Mr. Ebel will succeed Fritz Joussen who has served as the company’s CEO for nearly 10 years, and is exercising a right of resignation granted in connection with the conditions of the company's successful COVID-19 stabilization measures. Matthias Kiep, currently Group Director – Controlling, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations, will succeed Sebastian Ebel as TUI’s Chief Financial Officer.
In Friday’s announcement, TUI AG’s Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Dr. Dieter Zetsche, said,
“The crisis threatening our viability has been mastered. We are now entering the next phase. Sebastian Ebel is to become TUI's new CEO. He is an excellent choice for the new start after the Corona crisis. As a member of the Executive Board, Sebastian Ebel was responsible for the strategic growth areas of hotels, cruises and activities for many years and developed them into the Group's most profitable segments. I have worked closely with him over the past years and greatly appreciate his expertise and reliability. I am convinced that he will lead TUI to new successes. He is extremely entrepreneurial and has clear strategic and operational ambitions for TUI's development. He will drive the strengthening of the balance sheet and has clear ambitions for product, service and profitable growth of the business lines.
“The Supervisory Board regrets Fritz Joussen's decision – and I personally regret it, too. In 2013, Fritz Joussen took over a Group threatened with being split up, successfully restructured it and gave TUI its current future-proof shape. This transformation is very much his success story. With a clear focus on the core business, the orientation towards a strong global brand, the massive expansion of the profitable segments hotels, cruises and activities and with the consistent digitalization of the Group, he has turned TUI into a company that was on course for growth until the pandemic. Fritz Joussen led TUI safely and with a clear focus through the existential Corona crisis and laid the foundation for the Group to now focus on profitable growth again. TUI is now more global, efficient and digital than ever before. This is to the credit of Fritz Joussen. I would like to thank him most sincerely for the very good and trusting cooperation over the past years - also on behalf of the entire Supervisory Board and all employees.”
Commenting on his decision to step down as CEO of TUI AG on September 30, 2022, Fritz Joussen, said,
“When the pandemic in spring 2020 turned us into a company without a business virtually overnight, all our attention was focused on one goal: rescuing TUI. The immediate crisis management, which was about ensuring the Group's continued survival, has now been completed. We have a high level of liquidity, are no longer using state credit lines and the operating business is back: as announced, we expect a strong summer of travel almost at the level of 2019. Under new management, TUI is now starting the next chapter: a return to profitable growth – of course coupled with tasks from the crisis: reducing debt, strengthening the balance sheet and the further transformation of TUI. In addition, there are operational Corona late effects for the entire industry in these weeks, for example at the airports and in flight operations. Now that the existential crisis has been mastered, the time is right for a change at the top of TUI. I am delighted that Sebastian Ebel, a new CEO with whom I have enjoyed a long and trusting working relationship, is to take over. TUI is in very good hands with him. Sebastian Ebel will lead TUI back onto the growth path.”
TUI’s new Chief Financial Officer, Matthias Kiep, has extensive capital market and transaction experience, and has worked in investment banking at Lazard and BNP Paribas, among others, and has also served as CFO of TUI Deutschland.
Further commenting on Mr. Kiep’s appointment as Group CFO, Dr. Dieter Zetsche, added,
“Mathias Kiep was an important pillar of TUI's crisis team, especially during the pandemic. He was closely involved in the stabilization and the important steps towards debt reduction and refinancing. Not least because of his time as Chief Financial Officer of TUI Deutschland, he also knows the operative business very well. I am pleased that with him we have an excellent manager from TUI's own ranks.”
Hannover, Germany-based TUI Group is a leading global tourism company, which serves the entire tourism value chain under one roof. The company’s hotel portfolio includes over 400 hotels and resorts with premium brands such as RIU, TUI Blue and Robinson. The Group also operates 16 cruise ships from the MS Europa and the MS Europa 2 in the luxury class, to the Mein Schiff fleet of TUI cruises and Marella Cruses in Great Britain. TUI also includes leading tour operator brands and operating platforms across Europe, over 1,000 travel agencies, and five airlines with over 100 modern medium and long-haul aircraft.
Source: TUI AG