Martin Kind

Martin Kind (on the left) in 2014

Martin Kind is a millionaire and businessmen.[1][2] Kind has Swiss and German nationality. He is the owner and managing director of the Kind Group.

He is the main private investor in the Hannover 96 football club. From 2006 to 2024, he has been managing director of the club's own "Hannover 96 Management GmbH", which has controlled the club's professional football department since 1999.

Kind's family comes from the Chur region of Switzerland. He completed an apprenticeship at Siemens in Erlangen, Munich and Berlin. In 1970 he took over his father's hearing aid business and founded it in 1970 and expanded it into KIND Gruppe GmbH & Co. KG with around 2000 employees and over 550 specialist stores.[3]

In 2006 he joined Hannover 96 as an investor, becoming chairman and managing director.[3]

Controversies

Kind is a vehement opponent of the 50+1 rule in the Bundesliga, which was installed as a restriction on the influence and voting rights of investors. Many clubs outsourced their professional teams to corporations. With the regulation, commercial corporations (e.g. Hannover 96 GmbH & Co. KGaA) do not have decision-making power.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ "Der Schrecken der Liga". spiegel.de.
  2. ^ "Martin Kind: Ein Mann geht seinen Weg". fr.de.
  3. ^ a b "Martin Kind". GLC Glücksburg Consulting AG (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-23.
  4. ^ "Debatte um Milliardendeal: Rückschlag für die DFL". www.fr.de (in German). 2024-02-22. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
  5. ^ NDR. "96-Führung greift DFL scharf an - Kind: "Alles korrekt gelaufen"". www.ndr.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-23.