Keynote SpeakerFrank Appel

Frank Appel is a top German manager. He was CEO of Deutsche Post for 15 years, making him the longest-serving head of a DAX-listed company. Frank Appel shaped an era at Deutsche Post. After his departure, he took over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom.

Frank Appel (*1961) studied chemistry at the University of Munich after completing his A-levels and basic military service, graduating in 1989 with a degree in chemistry. Born in Hamburg, he gained his doctorate in neurobiology at ETH Zurich in 1993.

He began his professional career in 1993 at a German branch of McKinsey, where he became a member of the management board seven years later. In 2000, he moved to Deutsche Post AG as Head of Corporate Development. From 2002, he was a member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Global Business Services, global key account management and the operational management of the First Choice Group programme. In 2005, Frank Appel organised the takeover of the British logistics company Exel. Following the resignation of long-serving Post CEO Klaus Zumwinkel, Frank Appel was unanimously elected by the Supervisory Board as the new CEO of Deutsche Post AG in 2008. He was also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Postbank from 2008 to 2010. He stepped down from his post at Deutsche Post in 2023, leaving behind a Group with record figures. The press wrote about Appel that he had diversified the world’s largest logistics group calmly and with a steady hand, never losing sight of the core business.

In 2018, the Annual General Meeting of Adidas AG elected Frank Appel to the Supervisory Board. He stepped down from this position after one year. In April 2022, Frank Appel was elected Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom AG until 2026 and has been a member of the Supervisory Board of RWE since 2024.