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Executive Bios

Kent Hahne
CEO and Founder

A restaurant guy all his Life, Mr. Hahne started working at McDonalds at the age of 15 next to his school. After college, where he studied Accounting and Computer Programming he opened his own restaurant in Germany—catering to the Embassy’s in Bonn. After that Mr. Hahne became McDonald’s first franchisee in Germany, opened 14 restaurants in former East Germany and sold out in February 2006. Kent founded Vapiano in 2002 with his partners. He is now expanding Vapiano full time. Mr. Hahne is married with four children and is a born US citizen, growing up on both sides of the Atlantic.

Martin Luible
Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Luible is a former Deutsche Bank financial analyst who fell in love with Vapiano and eventually joined the company in 2005. Prior to becoming COO of Vapiano International, Martin worked his way up the Vapiano ladder in Germany starting in Management Operations Training, becoming General Manager of the high-volume Vapiano restaurant in Hamburg and in 2007 assuming the position Director of Franchise Sales and Expansion. As COO of Vapiano International he oversees all restaurant operations in North America including the coordination of vendors, food products, and human resources. His years of experience have helped establish a clear vision for this wildly popular company.

Gregor Gerlach
CFO

Gregor Gerlach was Vapiano’s original investor five years ago and continues to serve as the Chairman of the Board. Mr. Gerlach is currently the CEO of Seaside Hotels, a botique hotel chain with 7 world class hotels in Germany and Spain. Mr. Gerlach spent four years with McKinsey after receiving his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Klaus Rader
EVP/Secretary

Mr. Rader was one of four original founders of Vapiano. Prior to founding Vapiano, Mr. Rader was the youngest McDonalds franchisee in Germany (alongside Kent Hahne) and owned 6 McDonalds. In 1998 he founded L’ Osteria, a casual dining fresh pizza/pasta concept that has four locations. In 1999 he co-founded Balzac Coffee and has led that concept to grow to almost 30 locations.

Ned Kreiss
CPA

Harold Kestenbaum

Harold L. Kestenbaum is an attorney who has specialized in franchise law and other matters relating to franchising since 1977. Mr. Kestenbaum has served as franchise and general counsel to many regional, national and international concepts such as Sbarro, Inc., Chesapeake Bagels, Jersey Mike's, zpizza, Mr. Greek and Five Guys Burger and Fries.

Matteo Thun
Design and Architecture

Milan design star Matteo Thun is the brainchild behind Vapiano’s unmistakable image. A veteran in the architectural world, Thun has won many awards including “Hotel of the Year for the Side Hotel Hamburg and the “Worldwide Hospitality Awards" in 2005.