Fritz Hussen, who has headed the tourism holding TUI AG for almost a decade, will step down as CEO in September 2022, the holding said in a statement. He will be replaced by Sebastian Ebel, who is currently the group’s chief financial officer.
The report noted that Yussen’s resignation is voluntary, in addition, he will be able to receive solid severance pay, as he was able to fulfill the necessary conditions for stabilizing the company in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. The current CEO informed the chairman of the supervisory board, Dr. Dieter Zetsche, and the holding’s employees about his decision.
Sebastian Ebelä will take over as CEO on October 1, 2022.
“The crisis that threatens our viability has been overcome. We are now entering the next phase. As a member of the executive board, Sebastian Ebel has been responsible for many years in strategic growth areas: hotels, cruises, and excursions, and turned them into the most profitable segments, said Dieter Zetsche. — I am convinced that he will lead TUI to new successes. He is extremely entrepreneurial and has clear strategic and operational ambitions for the development of TUI.”
Fritz Yussen took over as CEO of TUI AG in 2013. He successfully restructured the company and achieved a massive expansion of segments such as hotels, cruises, and excursion sales, and also launched a digitalization process that began shortly after the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
“When the pandemic in the spring of 2020 almost overnight turned us into a company without a business, all our attention was focused on one goal: saving TUI,” said Fritz Yussen himself. — Anti-crisis management, which was supposed to ensure the holding’s continued survival, has now been completed. We have a high level of liquidity, we are no longer using government credit lines, and the operating business has resumed. Under new leadership, TUI is now embarking on the next chapter: a return to profitable growth. Sebastian Ebel will put TUI back on this path.”
Observers note that Yussen’s departure is overshadowed by only one fact – the German government’s investigation into the circumstances in which the controlling stake in TUI AG, owned by Russian entrepreneur Alexei Mordashov (34%), was withdrawn from EU jurisdiction. This happened on February 28, the same day that Mordashov was placed on the EU sanctions list and lost the opportunity to profit from his stake in the company.
Yussen will likely be appointed responsible for the current situation, and his departure will bring the holding itself out of harm’s way.