ThyssenKrupp AG [4] is a German industrial engineering and steel production company. It resulted from the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp and has its operational headquarters in Duisburg and Essen. The company says that it is one of the largest steel producers in the world, and it was ranked tenth-largest worldwide by revenue in 2015.[5] It is divided into 670 subsidiaries worldwide. The largest shareholders are the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation and Cevian Capital.[6] ThyssenKrupp's products range from machines and industrial services to high-speed trains, elevators, and shipbuilding. The subsidiary ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems also manufactures frigates, corvettes, and submarines for the German and other navies.
History
ThyssenKrupp is the result of a merger of two German steel companies, Thyssen AG founded in 1891 under the name Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser and Krupp founded in 1811. As early as the 1980s, the companies began negotiations on a merger and began closely cooperating in some business areas. In 1997, the companies combined their flat steel activities, with a full merger completed in March 1999.[7]
Beginnings (1811–1891)
Krupp
Thyssen
- 1811: Friedrich Carl Krupp established a cast steel factory in Essen, Germany.
- 1826: After Friedrich Krupp's death in 1826, his widow Therese Krupp ran the company together with other relatives and her eldest son Alfred, who was 14 years old at the time.
- 1833: Krupp manufactures complete rolling machines.
Financial data
Employees
As of 2020, the company had over 100,000 employees worldwide. After a financial struggle in 2020, and a loss of over €5.5 billion, ThyssenKrupp announced that it will be cutting over 11,000 jobs, 7,000 of which are located in Germany.[35]
In November 2024, Thyssenkrupp announced it would lay off around 5,000 jobs at its steel subsidiary by 2030 and outsource a further 6,000 jobs.[36]
Products and sales
ThyssenKrupp generates 33% of its consolidated sales in its home market. The rest of the European Union (EU) (28%) and the USMCA region (21%) are the key trading partners for business and exports outside Germany.
Business areas
The operations are organized in five business areas:[37]
Construction of the corporate headquarters began in 2007. The first buildings were complete in 2010; the second phase of the building was completed in June 2015. Situated in the west of Essen, the corporate campus was designed by Chaix & Morel et associeés (Paris) and JSWD Architekten (Cologne). Their design was selected for construction in an architectural design competition[38] in 2006.
- Components technology
- Elevator technology
- Industrial machinery
- Materials services
- Steel
Controversies
Price fixing
In November 2006, five elevator manufacturers including ThyssenKrupp, were found guilty of price fixing by the EU, over nine years, along with competitors Otis Elevator Co., Schindler Group, Kone, and Mitsubishi Elevator Europe. On 21 February 2007, ThyssenKrupp was fined €479 million by the European Commission (Otis was fined $US295 million). The EU Competition Commission reported that the companies had worked to rig bids for procurement contracts, share markets, and fix prices between at least 1995 and 2004. The Commission reported that the companies "did not contest the facts" found by EU regulators, noting that none of the accused requested a hearing to answer the allegations. The fines totaled US$1.3 billion.[39][40]
In July 2012, the German
Incidents
ThyssenKrupp has been the target of major, organised hacking attacks on several occasions, attacking the company's trade secrets. On 8 December 2016, it was disclosed the company was attacked in February of that year. Internally uncovered in April 2016, it took their IT team around six months to fix. The hack is thought to have originated from South-East Asia and was successful in retrieving information from various departments, including the plant engineering division.[48] In 2012, ThyssenKrupp and other European companies were attacked by Chinese hackers.[49]
On August 15, 2024, a fire broke out at the Thyssenkrupp warehouse in Völklingen. The building where plastic products and solar panels were stored caught fire. Smoke from the burning warehouse was visible from Saarbrücken, 15 kilometers away. 200 firefighters fought the fire for more than 30 hours. The roof of the building collapsed.[50]
See also
- List of steel producers
- List of conglomerates
- List of elevator manufacturers
- Transrapid
- Shanghai Maglev Train
- South African Arms Deal
- Dolphin-class submarine
- Eclipse (yacht)
External links
References
- Press release – Press releases – thyssenkrupp AG Thyssenkrupp.com, 3 December 2014, retrieved 5 April 2009^
- Management Thyssenkrupp.com, 6 October 2019^
- Annual Report 2023/2024 ThyssenKrupp AG, retrieved 9 July 2025