Ludger is a highly experienced operating executive with a career as Managing Director, CEO & President, Advisory Board and Supervisory Board spanning multiple industries. As THI Managing Director Value Creation he leads the Stuttgart part of the Direct Investment team.

Prior to joining THI in 2018, Ludger held various management positions and was Group Managing Director for over 19 years at Leopold Kostal GmbH & Co. KG, a global Tier 1 supplier for electronics and mechatronics.  In his last position, he was responsible for more than 10 years as President & CEO of the Automotive electrics business unit, (a €2bn revenue business with 15,000 employees spanning 21 countries). He has been continuously involved with innovative technologies of digital transformation focusing in particular on their successful implementation in family run businesses.

Ludger studied mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen University, specialising in production engineering. He worked at and received his doctorate from the Chair of Production Systems at the WZL Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering. He held various management positions there, with the last position as the head of the “Integrated Production Technology” department as chief engineer.

Ludger is also head of the advisory board of ebm-papst and a member of “Business Angel” in BARS e.V. which supports start ups and their founders with capital, know how, experiences, and networks. At the end of 2021, he was appointed to the Supervisory Board of Comma Soft AG – a pioneer and implementation service provider for digital transformation solutions in various industries.

Ludger has been happily married for a long time and has two children, both of whom are at the beginning of their careers as entrepreneurs and consultants. As an endurance sportsman Ludger loves long distance running and biking, completed a number of marathons as well as Transalp crossings by mountain bike to test and – where possible – push his own performance limits.