Klaus-Peter Schulenberg
| Klaus-Peter Schulenberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 July 1951 Bremen, Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Education | University of Bremen (economics, did not complete degree) |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, concert promoter |
| Employer | CTS Eventim AG |
| Title | Chairman of the Management Board (Vorstandsvorsitzender) |
| Known for | Acquiring and taking public the ticketing company CTS, now CTS Eventim; largest shareholder of CTS Eventim AG |
Klaus-Peter Schulenberg (born 14 July 1951 in Bremen) is a German entrepreneur and chairman of the management board of CTS Eventim AG, a ticketing and live entertainment company. He bought the company, then a Munich ticketing firm called CTS, in 1996 and took it public in 2000. As of September 2025, Schulenberg held 38.84 per cent of the company's shares, making him its largest shareholder. In 2024, Forbes estimated his net worth at 4 billion US dollars, placing him 785th on its list of the world's richest people.
Early life and education
Schulenberg was born in 1951 in Bremen. During his school years he played guitar and organ, and occasionally sang, in a small band called Free, for which he also organised performances. In 1972 he organised his first concert, booking the schlager singer Bernd Clüver, whom he also managed. Schulenberg went on to study economics at the University of Bremen but gave up his studies in favour of a career as a concert promoter.
Career
1973 to 1996: artist management and concert promotion
While still a student, Schulenberg founded an artist management and events agency in 1973. In the early 1970s the agency organised German concerts for performers including Alice Cooper and The Rolling Stones.
1996 to 2000: acquisition of CTS and stock listing
In 1996 Schulenberg bought the Munich ticketing company CTS. He took the firm public on 1 February 2000 on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company later diversified into live entertainment and ticketing across Europe under the Eventim brand, and by 2025 it was one of the 50 companies making up the MDAX index, with a market capitalisation of 8.34 billion euros in September 2025. Schulenberg has continued to hold the position of chairman of the management board and remains the company's largest shareholder, with a stake of 38.84 per cent.
2006: World Cup ticketing investigation
When CTS Eventim handled ticket sales for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, prosecutors alleged that Schulenberg was involved in diverting 52,000 tickets to the black market, reportedly generating around 12 million euros in profit. Munich prosecutors opened an investigation in 2009. The proceedings against Schulenberg were discontinued in August 2015 under Section 153a of the German Code of Criminal Procedure, a provision that allows a case to be closed without a formal finding of guilt, typically in exchange for a payment or condition.
2010: divestment of KPS Verlagsgesellschaft
Schulenberg had acquired the Weser-Report, a free advertising newspaper, from the Bremen branch of the CDU in the 1980s, and published it through KPS Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, a company whose name is derived from his initials. In 2010, Schulenberg was required to divest the publisher for antitrust reasons.
2018 to 2019: road toll consortium
In 2018, under Schulenberg's leadership, a consortium of CTS Eventim and Kapsch TrafficCom was awarded a contract by the German transport ministry to collect the country's planned car toll, the Pkw-Maut. The toll scheme was abandoned in 2019.
Personal life
Schulenberg lives with his partner, Ulrike Thümmel, in Hamburg. Thümmel's daughter, Juliane Schulenberg, was adopted by Schulenberg; she works as a Regierungsdirektorin for the federal government's Commissioner for Culture and Media and sat on the supervisory board of CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA until 2025. The couple also have a son. Schulenberg and Thümmel are members of the advisory council of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg.
Assessment
Schulenberg built a Munich ticketing business he bought in 1996 into CTS Eventim, a company listed on the MDAX with a market capitalisation of over 8 billion euros by 2025, and became wealthy as its largest shareholder, ranking on Forbes's list of the world's richest people in 2024. His record has also drawn scrutiny. Prosecutors investigated his alleged role in diverting World Cup tickets to the black market, though the case was closed in 2015 without a formal finding of guilt, and antitrust concerns forced him to give up a newspaper publisher in 2010. The 2018 Pkw-Maut contract awarded to a CTS Eventim-led consortium was abandoned by the government the following year.