Hot! BMW's the Quandt family - Germany's wealthiest family

[EnI]

Family behind BMW tops Germany's rich list

Stephan Quandt (48), Johanna Quandt (88), Susanne Klatten (née Quandt, 52)


Frankfurt: Wednesday, October 08, 2014 11:52 AM

The Quandt family, shareholders of carmaker BMW, have overtaken the founders of discount supermarket chains Aldi and Lidl as Germany's wealthiest family, weekly Manager Magazin said today.

The personal fortune of Johanna Quandt, widow of the late industrialist Herbert Quandt, and her two children Stefan Quandt and Susanne Klatten, amounts to a combined 31 billion euros (USD 39 billion), the magazine calculated, placing them at the top of its annual 500 rich-list.

The Quandts hold a 46.7-percent stake in BMW, but are also major shareholders in other German companies, such as carbon & graphite specialist SGL Carbon, chemicals maker Altana and wind turbine manufacturer Nordex.

The Quandts have therefore displaced the owners and founders of the discount supermarket empire, Aldi, the magazine said.

Aldi is divided into two parts, Aldi Nord and Aldi Sued, and the owners of the latter, the Albrecht and Heister families, have a combined fortune of 18.3 billion euros, while the owners of Aldi Nord, the descendants of Theo Albrecht, have 16.5 billion euros.

Co-founder Karl Albrecht died at the age of 94 in July, four years after his brother Theo.

Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler and her son Georg are Germany's third-wealthiest people.

They own the Schaeffler group, a maker of ball bearings and are also shareholders in auto parts specialist Continental. Their personal fortune amounts to 17.6 billion euros, Manager Magazin calculated.

In fifth place is Dieter Schwarz, owner of discount supermarket chain Lidl, with a fortune of 14.5 billion euros and the Herz family of the Tchibo store chain rank seventh with 11 billion euros.

The magazine calculated that the Samwer brothers, founders of start-up incubator Rocket Internet, are the big winners of the year, with their personal fortune quadrupling in size between September 2013 and September 2014 to 3.5 billion euros.

The combined wealth of Germany's 100 richest people increased by 18.8 percent over the past 12 months to 399.8 billion euros, as a result of rising stock markets, flourishing company profits and a property boom, the magazine said.

The combined fortune of the country's 500 wealthiest rose by 16 percent to 612 billion euros, it added.




http://www.manager-magazin.de/finan...sten-deutschen-im-ueberblick-a-995561-10.html

 

[SCOTT27]

The genius of the Quandts is that they invest in industries that are very much the shape of things to come such as renewable energy and the next phase of material technology with SGL. They have incredible foresight and in the guise of SGL the investment is being quickly re cooperated due to other industries outsourcing to SGL for Carbon fibre especially in the aeronautics and nautical industries.

As for BMW its the envy of the automotive industry as it cuts out outsourcing costs and manufactured in high volume that it becomes cost effective to use. Which is why the next generation of BMW models will be revolutionary in their engineering and construction against their competitors. The first roll out begin with the next generation 7er but will extend through other BMW model and on to the Rolls-Royce cars.

It is not entirely unthinkable to see a generation of the 3er use the entire structure consisting of Carbon fibre like a BMW i3 one day.

 

[EnI]

Btw, the next carmaker-related German clan - the Piech / Porsche clan - is worth at least €10 billion. That's the current worth of their 50% stake in Porsche SE which owns 50.73% of Volkswagen AG. Add another billion or two - since I'm sure their other assets & investments are worth at least as much. That would put the Porsche / Piech clan on the rank #6 or #7 in the Germany's richest families list. I have no idea why they are not on the Manager Magazine list.

And with the Schaeffler family - the owners of Continental - in #3 spot (being worth €17.6 billion) the German automotive industry proves to be one of the most important billionaire generator. The most important billionaire generator in Germany is still the retail sector (Aldi Süd, Aldi Nord, Lidl / Kaufland, Otto, Tchibo).

Btw, what it strikes me is the wealth difference between the Quandts in #1 spot (€31 billion) and Albrechts in #2 spot (€18,3 billion). That's a difference of €12.7 billion - a sum that represents almost a wealth of the 6th richest family in Germany. The ratio between the wealth of the Quandts vs the Albrechts is 5 : 3 (1.66 : 1). Meaning the Quandts are by far the richest family in Germany - making them "the German Walton's". Although the real Waltons with their €120 billion wealth are definitely a few classes above Quandts, of course.

 

[KiwiRob]

What about the other Quandts, Silvia, Sonja, Sabinia and Sven, Herbert left all his children equal wealth when he kicked the bucket. The combined family wealth must be far larger than what's listed above. Then there are the children of Herbert's brother Harald who are also billionaires, but keep to themselves.

 

[EnI]

What about the other Quandts, Silvia, Sonja, Sabinia and Sven, Herbert left all his children equal wealth when he kicked the bucket. The combined family wealth must be far larger than what's listed above.

Info form German media (via Wikipedia):

Herbert Quandt ensured that the shares in his companies were not thinly spread and so to avoid family disputes the children of the previous marriages received large shares in other Quandt family companies.

Silvia Quandt, the only child from Herbert's first marriage, received extensive investments and property in the 1970s.

Later the three children from the second marriage (Sonja, Sabina and Sven) were given the majority of the shares of VARTA Battery AG but these have since been sold.

Herbert's third wife Johanna, and his children Susanne and Stefan inherited his stake in BMW AG and his real estate in Bad Homburg, Munich etc. Susanne also received Herbert's shares in Altana AG, while Stefan also received shares in a holding company called Delton with interests in medical products and power supplies.

Then there are the children of Herbert's brother Harald who are also billionaires, but keep to themselves.

Harald Quandt's (Herbert's younger half-brother) five daughters inherited about 1.5 billion German marks ($760 million) and would later increase their wealth through the Harald Quandt Holding GmbH, a Germany-based family investment company and trust named after their father. Today, they share a fortune worth at least $6 billion.

So, the extended Quandt clan is most probably the wealthiest clan in Germany, I guess.

The Quandt clan has quite a nasty past - since they profited much from the WWI, WWII and especially from Nazi regime.

Herbert's & Harald's father Guenther Quandt was a wealthy German industrialist and a prominent Nazi member - he was even a Minister of Military Industry. After the divorce Guenther's second wife Magda (Harald's mother) even married a notorious Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels - so he was Harald's step-father. Btw, Harald is the Quandt brather that has nothing to do with BMW but was co-owner of eg battery-maker VARTA AG.

When Günther died in 1954, the Quandt group was a conglomerate of about 200 businesses including the battery manufacturer, several metal fabrication companies, textile companies and chemical companies (including Altana AG). It also owned about 10% of car company Daimler-Benz and about 30% of BMW. After Günther's death, the conglomerate was divided between his two sons: Herbert and Harald Quandt who was Herbert's half brother.
BMW was an ailing company and in 1959 its management suggested selling the whole concern to Daimler-Benz. Herbert Quandt was close to agreeing to such a deal, but changed his mind at the last minute because of opposition from the workforce and trade unions. Instead he increased his share in BMW to 50% against the advice of his bankers, risking much of his wealth. He was instrumental in reversing the company's fortunes.

 

[EnI]

Btw, the next carmaker-related German clan - the Piech / Porsche clan - is worth at least €10 billion. That's the current worth of their 50% stake in Porsche SE which owns 50.73% of Volkswagen AG. Add another billion or two - since I'm sure their other assets & investments are worth at least as much. That would put the Porsche / Piech clan on the rank #6 or #7 in the Germany's richest families list. I have no idea why they are not on the Manager Magazine list.

Now I know why ... Since not all of the Porsche-Piech clan members are German citizen. A handful of them are actually Austrian citizens, and therefore officially the Austrian billionaires. Ferdinand Piech included.

 

[Deleted member 25]

So Johanna is dead, who will take her shares ?

 

[KiwiRob]

So Johanna is dead, who will take her shares ?

Unless she's left them to charity wouldn't it be obvious that they would go to her surviving family, i.e. her children and possibly grandchildren.

 

[Giannis]

So Johanna is dead, who will take her shares ?

From Reuters: (http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/05/us-bmw-shareholders-quandt-idUSKCN0QA24120150805)

The death of Johanna Maria Quandt, head of the family which has a controlling stake in BMW (BMWG.DE), will not affect the family's shareholding in the German carmaker, a spokesman said.

Johanna Quandt died on Monday in Bad Homburg, Germany at the age of 89, the spokesman for the family said on Wednesday. The Quandt family has a 46.6 percent stake in BMW, including a 16.7 percent stake owned by Johanna Quandt.

"The stake will remain within the family," spokesman Joerg Appelhans said.

Johanna Quandt was the wife of Herbert Quandt, the German industrialist credited with BMW's revival in the post-war years, who died in 1982.

Johanna Quandt's children are also shareholders in BMW: Stefan Quandt has a 17.4 percent stake, and his sister Susanne Klatten holds a 12.5 percent stake.

 

[klier]

So Johanna is dead, who will take her shares ?

I will, thank you very much.

 

[Mr Robert]

I kinda like the Klatten... grr..

 

[Centurion]

It must be great to be a non-executive share holder of such a money making giant.

RIP Johanna