Sybill Storz.
Surrounded by her closest family, the internationally-renowned Tuttlingen entrepreneur Sybill Storz passed away peacefully on 28 November 2025 at the age of 88. Her family, all the employees, and the Supervisory Board of the family-owned MedTech company KARL STORZ deeply mourn this loss.
An impressive personality and entrepreneur
Sybill Storz was a passionate entrepreneur and philanthropist. She embodied success and entrepreneurial spirit. As a second-generation leader of the company, she devoted her life to advancing medical technology and expanding her parents' family business, KARL STORZ, a medical technology company founded in 1945 and an international leader in endoscopic, imaging and integrated operating room solutions across many human and veterinary surgical specialties. In addition to her tireless professional commitment, she was driven above all by one thing: her social engagement, especially for children and families in need. Her life's work also included challenges, which she always mastered with strength of will and courage. Her willingness to break new ground and her eye for detail distinguished her until the very end.
A life's work in the service of medicine
At the end of the 1950s, Sybill Storz began her long and successful career alongside her father and company founder Karl Storz in Tuttlingen. In 1996, she took over the management of the company after her father's death. In the years that followed, she shaped the family business through her dedication, determination and a sustainable growth and internationalisation strategy. With personal commitment, an unerring sense for trends in medical technology and impressive expertise, Sybill Storz developed the company into an innovative and globally-recognised quality provider and partner in the healthcare sector.
In 2019, she handed over the reins to the third generation, her son Karl-Christian Storz, and took over as chair of the Supervisory Board. At the end of 2023, she and her son founded the KARL STORZ Foundation. She became its chair to consolidate and strengthen the family's social activities for their home region and in developing countries. In this context, she fulfilled a dream close to her heart with the TUTORAMA interactive museum, creating a unique place for children and young people in Tuttlingen, Germany. A place that inspires the next generation to take an interest in STEM subjects in a playful way, awakens their curiosity, and, above all, is accessible to financially disadvantaged families.
Awards
Sybill Storz received numerous awards as an entrepreneur and for her life's work, such as the German Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon, admission to the French Legion of Honour as a ‘Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur’, several honorary doctorates in Germany and abroad, as well as honorary memberships and orders from various medical societies worldwide.
