Billionaire Lufthansa investor Thiele dies aged 79

German billionaire Heinz Hermann Thiele, the biggest shareholder in Lufthansa airline, died Tuesday aged 79, announced Knorr-Bremse, the company through which he built his fortune. Thiele, a rail industry tycoon and one of Germany's richest men, died "surrounded by his family in Munich", Knorr-Bremse said in a statement. Derided as a "caveman capitalist" by trade unions and dubbed a "patriarch" by others, Thiele had become Lufthansa's largest shareholder last year with a 15.5% stake. He battled with Germany's government last June, making no secret of his scepticism about plans for the state to take a 20% stake in Lufthansa in exchange for a huge rescue package to keep it afloat during the pandemic.<br/>