Dr Klaus Endress, CEO and Supervisory Board president of the Endress+Hauser Group turns 75

Dr Klaus Endress, Endress+Hauser Group’s CEO and president of the Supervisory Board since 2014, is celebrating his 75th birthday. Dr. Endress will end his active involvement in the family-owned business at the end of the year. However, he will remain closely associated with the Group as a shareholder and chairman of the Endress Family Council.

Born on 9th December 1948 as the second of eight children of company founder Dr. Georg H. Endress and his wife Alice, Klaus Endress studied industrial engineering before working in the USA. Dr. Endress joined his Endress+Hauser in 1979, taking over the role of CEO in 1995, and overseeing the company’s development for 19 years; in 2014, he moved on to the Supervisory Board.

Klaus Endress’ tenure as CEO has left a strong impression on how the company is today. He was the driving force behind the company’s separation and focus of sales and production, the implementation of uniform IT structures, the internationalisation of Endress + Hauser, and the introduction of production on a global scale forged by the principle of ‘From the region, for the region’. The successful development of Endress + Hauser owes a huge amount to these crucial developments.

For Klaus Endress, value-based corporate management, responsibility, and loyalty are key factors for sustaining economic success. These principles are upheld within the entrepreneurial family; a family charter defines the family’s and the company’s relationship while integrating the younger generation into the business and bolstering the cohesion and unity of the 75-plus members of the Endress family.

Dr Endress also found the time to immerse himself in local politics, education, culture and business. He was an active member of the liberal FDP party in Reinach, his and the company’s hometown, for nearly three decades. From 2005 until 2018, he also represented the canton of Baselland on the University Council of the University of Basel. In 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Economics for his untiring work and commitment, and, in the same year, he was also recognised for his unwavering support of the Basel region’s development. From 2008 to 2017, he was Chairman of the WVIB (Wirtschaftsverband in Baden), an industrial association consisting of over 1,000 small and medium-sized companies in southwestern Germany. On his retirement, the Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg, Germany, appointed Dr Endress as an honorary senator. The German Federal Cross of Merit was also awarded to add to Dr. Endress’ impressive list of accolades.

At the end of 2023, Dr. Klaus Endress’ active role in the company will come to an end.  In the future, Sandra Genge and Steven Endress, both members of the family’s third generation to work at Endress + Hauser, will represent the Endress family on the Supervisory Board. Klaus Endress will still have active involvement, both as a shareholder and chairman of the Family Council. He is looking forward to spending more time with his wife and two grown-up children, whilst enjoying his passions of horse riding and mountain biking in the beautiful local countryside, usually accompanied by the family dog, Maya.