Elite Germany law firm Hengeler Mueller has brokered a settlement in a bitter €15 billion battle over the estate of German tycoon Heinz Hermann Thiele, securing a trust fund for his much younger widow but leaving her without the power to control it.

The protracted dispute pitted Nadia Thiele against the executor of the will and the trust fund itself, as well as the daughter and the estranged son of German tech and transport billionaire Heinz Hermann Thiele. He was well known in Germany for being, at one point, the largest shareholder in flag-carrying airline Lufthansa.