Thyssenkrupp

€32.8 billion in revenue (down from €35 billion), steel production capacity slashed from 11.5 million tons to 8.7-9 million, 11,000 jobs eliminated or outsourced, and the October 2025 spinoff of TKMS (Marine Systems) with an €18.2 billion order backlog. Thyssenkrupp isn't restructuring—it's undergoing autophagy. The organism is digesting itself, catabolizing non-essential tissue to preserve core functions during prolonged metabolic stress. Steel Europe, the legacy business, became a liability: overcapacity in fragmented European markets, carbon transition costs requiring billions for hydrogen-based production, and Chinese competition making traditional integrated mills uneconomical. The solution follows biological precedent: controlled self-cannibalization to prevent uncontrolled collapse.

CEO Miguel López's transformation into a "financial holding company with majority investments in high-performing, independent companies" translates biologically to cellular differentiation under resource constraint. The organism fragments into specialized entities optimized for distinct environments. TKMS—submarines and surface vessels for defense markets experiencing hyperphagia from European rearmament—now operates independently with MDAX listing and 40% operating margins. Steel Europe, under negotiation with Jindal Steel International after EP Group talks collapsed, represents tissue being excised entirely. The €363 million positive free cash flow before M&A demonstrates the metabolic payoff: eliminating energy-intensive processes that consumed resources faster than they generated returns.

The October 2025 TKMS listing revealed the holding company logic: different businesses optimize differently. Defense order books extend 6+ years with pricing power in supply-constrained markets. Steel faces commodity pricing with razor-thin margins and existential carbon regulation. Forcing both to share corporate metabolism meant steel's struggles bled TKMS profits and TKMS growth opportunities were starved to fund steel legacy costs. Separation lets each find its fitness landscape. The risk is fire-sale valuations for divested assets and stranded costs at the holding company level. But the alternative—maintaining integrated conglomerate structure while steel burns cash and regulatory costs compound—represents slower path to the same outcome. Thyssenkrupp chose controlled coppicing over forest fire. Whether new growth emerges or only stumps remain depends on execution over the next 24 months.