The board of directors of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE: ZIM) has announced the appointment of Dr. Chen Lichtenstein as its new president and CEO. Lichtenstein will take up the post on July 1, when he will also become a director at ZIM. He replaces Eli Glickman, who announced on April 15 that he would step down after nine years.

Lichtenstein’s appointment comes against the background of the deal for the sale of ZIM to German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd and FIMI Opportunity Funds for $4.2 billion. The deal was approved by 97% of ZIM’s shareholders, but it has yet to be approved by the government of Israel, which holds a "golden share" meant to safeguard the national interest in the company. Two government ministries, the Ministry of Economy and Industry and the Ministry of Agriculture, have issued position papers against the deal. As far as is known, however, they did so without meeting the buyers and receiving exact details of the deal. The required documentation has been submitted to the government, and meetings will be held in the near future to arrive at a decision.

Glickman himself tried to buy ZIM together with shipping magnate Rami Ungar, and in fact the bid they presented last year set off the process of reviewing alternatives at the company, which ended with the pending sale to Hapag-Lloyd and FIMI. The ZIM board rejected two bids from Glickman and Ungar on the grounds that they undervalued the company.

Lichtenstein (68) was president and CEO of agrichemicals company ADAMA (formerly Makhteshim Agan Industries) from 2014 to 2020, and later served as CFO of agricultural technology company Syngenta Group, of which ADAMA is now part. Two years ago, he was appointed as a director of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. He is also a director of the Israel Democracy Institute and a member of the board of governors of Tel Aviv University.

Lichtenstein was born in Tel Aviv, but moved as a child to Kibbutz Givat Haim after his mother died and his father married the daughter of one of the founders of the kibbutz. In the IDF he served as an officer in the Paratroop Brigade. After his release he studied physics and law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and did his internship under the late Supreme Court Justice Mishael Cheshin, following which he joined the law firm of Yigal Arnon.

He moved with his wife to the US where she did post-doctoral studies and he himself did two doctorates, in law and business administration, at Stanford University. He then worked at investment bank Goldman Sachs in New York and London, chiefly on merger deals.

When the family returned to Israel, Lichtenstein joined Makhteshim Agan. He said of himself in an interview with "Globes": "I knew that I didn’t want to be a lawyer, or to remain in investment banking all my life. That work was part of my business training. I wanted to reach the management of an Israeli company."

ZIM said in its announcement: "Dr. Lichtenstein brings with him extensive management, business and financial experience in the global arena, including leading complex international companies, managing growth processes, integration and organizational change, operating in international markets and working with boards of directors, shareholders and global investment bodies."

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 1, 2026.

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