Michael Frenzel

He joined Westdeutsche Landesbank in 1981.^[1]

In 1988 Frenzel joined Preussag AG as an executive responsible for trading and logistics.^[1] He was promoted to the position of chief executive officer in January 1994.^[1]

During his time as chief executive, Frenzel transformed the company from an industrial conglomerate into a travel services company.^[2] He oversaw Preussag's acquisition of Hapag-Lloyd in 1997.^[2] In 2000, he oversaw Preussag's £1.8 billion takeover of Thomson Travel.^[6] The company also acquired the German tourism operator TUI in 1998 and the French firm Nouvelles Frontières.^[1] After these acquisitions, Preussag was Europe's leading tourism operator.^[1] In July 2002, Preussag was rebranded as TUI, short for Touristik Union International, the name of a subsidiary it had bought previously.^[7]

Frenzel retired from TUI in February 2013, succeeded by Friedrich Joussen.^[2] He became a World Travel and Tourism Council ambassador in 2018.^[4]

He has served on the supervisory boards of several large German companies, including Volkswagen, Deutsche Bahn, and Norddeutsche Landesbank.^[3][5] He is a member of the International Chamber of Commerce.^[3]

Frenzel lives outside Hanover. He and his wife Gabi have three children.^[6]