Ernst Tanner (born 24 July 1946) is a Swiss manager and entrepreneur. He is Chairman of the Board of the chocolate manufacturer Lindt & Sprüngli.

After earning his undergraduate degree in business administration, Tanner continued his education at business schools in London and Harvard. He worked for over 20 years in a leading management position in the Johnson & Johnson Group in Europe and the USA.^[1] In 1993 he joined Lindt & Sprüngli as a CEO and the next year he also assumed as its Chairman of the Board of Directors, for many years holding both mandates as a double mandate.^[2] Since his involvement in the Company, the revenue of the chocolate manufacturer has surged considerably.^[3] He has been Vice President of the Board of Directors since 2011, where he was a member since 2002 and since 2014, Chairman of the Compensation Committee of the Swatch Group. He is also a member of the advisory board of the German Krombacher Brauerei^[4] In 2015 he bought 10% of the Signa Holding and took a seat in the advisory board of the company.^[1] In October 2021, he capitalized on his involvement in Signa and sold 4% of the shares back to the owner of the Signa Holding, René Benko.^[5]

He is married and has a son.^[3]

• Ernst Tanner Official website Lindt & Sprüngli
• Iris Kuhn-Spogat, Stefan Barmettler: Lindt & Sprüngli: Der Kaiser aus Kilchberg Archived 2018-01-05 at the Wayback Machine In: Bilanz 18. December 2009.
• Marc Kowalsky: Ernst Tanner: «Ich bin kein Sesselkleber» Archived 2018-01-05 at the Wayback Machine Interview in: Bilanz 30. Mai 2012.
• Ernst Tanner, in the Munzinger-Archiv