DHL Group
Leadership History
2 leaders · 2008 to present
Tobias Meyer is the CEO of DHL, in the role since 2023. The first chief executive was Frank Appel, from 2008.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tobias Meyer | Chief Executive Officer | 2023 | Present | 3 |
| Frank Appel | Former Chief Executive Officer | 2008 | 2023 | 15 |
DHL Group is the logistics company behind the yellow-and-red DHL brand and Germany's Deutsche Post. It operates in more than 220 countries and territories and is often described as the most international of the big express carriers: where FedEx and UPS built their scale in the US domestic market, DHL built it on cross-border trade. Today the group spans express parcels, freight forwarding, contract logistics, e-commerce delivery and German mail. The company is headquartered in Bonn, Germany. The massive global logistics juggernaut was founded in San Francisco in 1969 to fly cargo documents to Hawaii, eventually being entirely acquired by the German government's privatized postal service to become the absolute undisputed king of international shipping.
DHL makes money by charging for moving and managing goods across five divisions. Express sells time-definite international door-to-door delivery on its own air and road network and is the group's main profit driver. Global Forwarding, Freight buys air, ocean and road capacity from carriers and resells it with customs brokerage, earning a margin per shipment. Supply Chain runs outsourced warehouses, fulfillment and transport under multi-year contracts. eCommerce delivers domestic and cross-border parcels for online merchants outside Germany. Post & Parcel Germany delivers letters and parcels in Germany under the Deutsche Post and DHL brands, with letter prices set under German postal regulation.
Chief Executive Officer
2023 – Present
3 years (current)
Became CEO in May 2023 after joining the group from McKinsey in 2013 and leading Post & Parcel Germany. He launched Strategy 2030, ran the 'Fit for Growth' cost programme and led the 2026 reorganization that renamed the listed parent DHL AG.
Under Meyer, DHL grew EBIT about 4% to ~$6.89B (EUR 6.1B) in 2025 despite tariffs and raised 2026 EBIT guidance to more than $7.34B (EUR 6.5B).
Former Chief Executive Officer
2008 – 2023
15 years
Took over after Klaus Zumwinkel's 2008 resignation, ended US domestic express delivery, sold Postbank and refocused the group on logistics through Strategy 2015, 2020 and 2025.
Led the group through the 2008-2009 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, when express and forwarding volumes and earnings reached record levels.
DHL faces global trade slowdowns, fuel and aviation costs, wage inflation, parcel-price competition, customs disruption, freight-rate cycles, and automation demands.
Tobias Meyer was appointed Chief Executive Officer of DHL Group in May 2023. Meyer joined the company in 2013 after working at McKinsey & Company, previously serving as Chief Operating Officer of DHL Global Forwarding and CEO of Post & Parcel Germany.
Tobias Meyer's strategic agenda focuses on executing 'Strategy 2030', expanding high-growth B2B and e-commerce logistics, modernizing German postal regulations, driving digital automation across supply chains, and meeting ambitious sustainability milestones.
Dr. Frank Appel led DHL Group for 15 years as CEO. He transformed the conglomerate into the world's most profitable logistics company, exited the loss-making domestic US express market, introduced the 'Strategy 2020' and 'Strategy 2025' frameworks, and grew group revenues to record highs.
Klaus Zumwinkel served as CEO of Deutsche Post from 1990 to 2008. He orchestrated the privatization of the state-owned German federal post office, oversaw its successful IPO in 2000, and engineered the strategic international acquisitions of DHL and Exel.
Melanie Kreis is DHL Group's Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Management alongside CEO Tobias Meyer and the heads of the operating divisions.
On July 1, 2023 the group changed its name from Deutsche Post DHL Group to DHL Group to reflect that most of its business is international logistics under the DHL brand, while keeping Deutsche Post for mail in Germany. On September 1, 2026 the listed parent itself was renamed DHL AG.
During the pandemic DHL kept freight moving with its own cargo aircraft while passenger flights were grounded, delivered COVID-19 vaccines worldwide and posted record earnings in 2021 and 2022.
DHL AG follows the German two-tier model: a Board of Management led by the CEO and a 20-member Supervisory Board split equally between shareholder and employee representatives.
Tobias Meyer currently serves as CEO. He took over from Frank Appel, the legendary executive who ran the company for 15 years, brutally cutting losses by effectively shutting down DHL's domestic US delivery operations to focus 100% on highly lucrative international routes.
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