Hans Van Bylen

Education

Hans Van Bylen studied business economics at the University of Antwerp and graduated with both a degree in business management and a Master of Business Administration. He also completed numerous executive development courses, e.g. at Harvard Business School and INSEAD. He is fluent in Dutch, English, German and French.

Van Bylen joined Henkel in 1984 as Product Manager for detergents in Belgium. After several positions in marketing for detergents and cosmetics, he took over management responsibilities for various countries and regions. In 2005, he became member of Henkel's management board and was Executive Vice President for the Beauty Care business.

In May 2016 Van Bylen was appointed chief executive officer of Henkel, succeeding Kasper Rørsted who joined adidas. Under his leadership, Henkel acquired the US based The Sun Products Corporation for 3.2 billion euros in June 2016. In November 2016, he presented the company's new strategy (Henkel 2020+) During his period as CEO, the company realised 25 acquisitions worth 7 billion euros. Henkel saw its turnover grow up to 20.1 billion euros in 2019. In 2019 it was announced that Van Bylen would step down as CEO of Henkel for personal reasons. He was succeeded in 2020 by his right-hand and former Henkel CFO, Carsten Knobel.

Van Bylen was on several boards in the US and in Germany, such as Ecolab and GfK. Moreover, he was active as an independent board member in non-profit organizations like the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and the prestigious European Round Table of Industries (ERT). He was also President of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) until March 2020.

Given his many years of business experience at the top of German industry and extensive network in the German business world, Van Bylen is still considered a very influential voice in Belgium today. Since leaving Henkel, Van Bylen has held board positions at Ontex, Etex, LANXESS and AkzoNobel. also joined the board of SN Airholding, the holding company of Brussels Airlines, in 2020. He currently is the chairman of the Belgian diaper manufacturer Ontex and was appointed by the Belgian federal government as a board member of Brussels Airlines, a subsidiary of German carrier Lufthansa.