Karl-Ludwig Kley

Kley studied law at LMU 1974–1979 and completed his practical training as a lawyer in Hamburg and Johannesburg from 1979 to 1982. He earned a doctorate in law at LMU in 1986.

Kley worked for Bayer from 1982 to 1998, most recently as head of corporate finance and investor relations. He was chief financial officer and a member of the executive board of Lufthansa 1998–2006.

In 2006 Kley joined Merck as a member of the executive board, and he became CEO of Merck in April 2007.[2][3] Under his leadership, Merck strengthened its two non-pharmaceutical divisions, which make laboratory supplies and specialty chemicals, and completed a $17 billion deal to buy US laboratory supplies company Sigma-Aldrich.[4] In his capacity at Merck, Kley was part of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s delegation on a state visit to Japan in 2015. In October 2015, it was announced that Kley would retire in April 2016, and be succeeded by Stefan Oschmann.[3]

In 2017, Lufthansa named Kley as new chairman of its supervisory board, replacing Wolfgang Mayrhuber, who resigned six months before the end of his term.[5] There had already been speculation late in 2015 that he would replace Mayrhuber, after Kley was quoted as saying he would take the job if it was offered to him.[5]