Christian Ulbrich

Global CEO & President at JLL

Christian has overall responsibility for the company’s strategic direction and continued growth. He also serves as the chair of JLL’s Global Executive Board.

Alongside senior leadership, Christian is steering a strategy that positions JLL among the world’s leading companies. The vision calls for embracing market-leading digital solutions to help drive success for clients, employees and shareholders.

Christian Ulbrich has held management positions at JLL for more than fifteen years. When he joined the company in 2005, he took on the role of Managing Director for Germany. In 2009, he was appointed CEO for the EMEA region and also became a member of the Executive Board. In 2016, he assumed the role of Chairman of the Executive Board and became a member of the Supervisory Board. Before joining JLL, he spent seven years as CEO of the Germany-wide HIH Group, headquartered in Hamburg. Prior to this role, he had already spent ten years in senior positions at other national and international banks.

Christian is a passionate advocate for a sustainable, diverse and inclusive global future. He is a Vanguard board member of the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative. He is also a member of the board of directors of Vonovia SE, Europe’s largest residential real estate company.

Christian earned a senior degree in business administration from the University of Hamburg, and attended the Stanford University GSB program. He lives near Frankfurt, Germany.

Why We Chose Him:

Real estate accounts for nearly 40% of total carbon emissions, so JLL is doing something about it -- through the work the company does with its people and its clients, and in its workplaces and communities.

Leading by example in its own facilities is part of JLL’s response to what its leadership sees as a critical issue, but the company is in a strong position to do more by sharing its industry knowledge as it works with clients in the construction and management of their real estate properties.

With JLL managing 5 billion square feet of space globally for its clients -- approximately one thousand times the square footage the company, itself, occupies -- JLL believes its greatest opportunity for impact is with and through its clients.

Leading the way on sustainability is fundamental to JLL’s purpose to shape the future of real estate for a better world--and, JLL unapologetically admits, to its own future long-term growth strategy. JLL is a founding partner of Bloomberg Green, the first global media brand for the climate-change era. And JLL Global CEO Christian Ulbrich is a member of the World Economic Forum Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, a group of CEOs committed to actively engaging in global efforts to create market opportunities for tackling climate change. And, because knowledge is never static, all of this effort necessitates keeping the company at the cusp of advances in building materials and design.

JLL’s corporate sustainability program, Building a Better Tomorrow, focusses on increasing its positive contributions to the environment and society and minimizing the negative effects of its business activities. Say the company’s reports, “We do this by embedding sustainability into everything we do through the four pillars of our program — Clients, People, Workplaces and Community -- and by living the core values that shape our culture and define who we are: teamwork, ethics and excellence.”

For the Clients pillar, JLL partners with its clients to create and implement solutions to achieve their sustainability goals by deploying industry-leading strategies and tools, and by pioneering new ways of using technology.

For the Workplaces pillar, JLL drives down energy and resource use and subsequent carbon emissions from both its offices and travel activities.

Knowledge is the factor this month’s Social Capital feature is focused on. And using its position to share knowledge to, as the company says, “shape the future of real estate for a better world” is why we chose JLL to be part of this article. But JLL distinguishes itself as a Social Capital leader in other practices at the heart of this Social Capital movement -- in its pillars of People and Communities.

JLL is known for helping people achieve their ambitions by enabling them to explore new opportunities, by investing in their growth and development, providing an inclusive culture and workplaces, and putting their safety first. And, serving both individuals and the community, JLL creates shared value not just by forging global and local charitable partnerships but by giving its employees time to contribute personally to the issues that mean the most to them.