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Klaus Jürgen Hopt (born 24 August 1940 in Tuttlingen, Germany) is a German jurist, specialised in the field of German and international commercial law.
Klaus J. Hopt studied law, economics and political science at LMU Munich, the University of Tübingen, the University of Bilbao, the University of Paris, and New York University as of 1959. After obtaining his PhD (Dr. iur.) at LMU Munich in 1967 with the title "Schadensersatz aus unberechtigter Verfahrenseinleitung. Eine rechtsvergleichende Untersuchung zum Schutz gegen unberechtigte Inanspruchnahme staatlicher Verfahren” and his PhD (Dr. phil.) at the University of Tübingen in 1968 („Die Dritte Gewalt als politischer Faktor. Eine Fallstudie zur Reform der Wahlkreiseinteilung in den USA.“), he qualified as a professor at LMU Munich in 1973 with a thesis on investor protection in banking law. From 1974 to 1978, Hopt was a professor at the University of Tübingen, from 1978 to 1980 at the European University of Florence, from 1980 to 1985 again at the University of Tübingen, from 1985 to 1987 at the University of Bern and from 1987 to 1995 at LMU Munich. From 1995 until his retirement in 2008, Hopt was Director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg, where he continues to pursue his research today. Hopt is editor and author of numerous books, including the commentary on the German Commercial Code (HGB), and author of over 350 articles on German and European commercial, corporate, banking, stock exchange and business law in over 20 languages.
Klaus Hopt has had numerous visiting professorships: in 1979 at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia/USA, in 1981 and 1983 at the European University of Florence, in 1987 at the University of Paris I (Sorbonne), in 1988 at the University of Kyōto in Japan, from 1989 to 1990 at the Université libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, in 1991 at the University of Geneva and the University of Tokyo, in 1994 at the University of Chicago, in 1999 and 2006 at New York University (Global Faculty)/USA, in 2002 at Harvard University, from 2002 to 2003 at Tilburg University, in 2003, 2004 and 2005 at the University of Paris II (Panthéon-Assas), in 2007 and 2008 at LUISS University in Rome, in 2008 at the Catholic University of Portugal in Lisbon, in 2010 at Columbia University and in 2013 at the University of Vienna and Vienna University of Economics and Business.
From 1981 to 1985, Hopt was a judge at the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart. From 1995 to 2001, he was a member of the former Takeover Commission; from 2002 to 2007, he was a member of the Takeover Advisory Board formed at the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in accordance with Section 5 of the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (WpÜG). From 2000 to 2012, Hopt was a member of the deputation of the German Jurists' Conference (DJT). He was also a member of the High Level Group of Company Law Experts advising the European Commission in Brussels from 2001 to 2002. From 2002 to 2012, he was a member of the Stock Exchange Expert Commission. From 2002 to 2008, Hopt was also Vice President of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). From 2003 to 2006, he served as Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Max Planck Gesellschaft and from 2003 to 2005 as a member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Börse AG. He has also worked as an expert for the German Bundestag, the Federal Constitutional Court, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the Bundesbank, the European Commission, the Bank for International Settlements, Bulgaria and the World Bank, among others.
