Reinhold Würth (born 20 April 1935 in Öhringen, Württemberg) is a German businessman and art collector. He took over his father’s tiny wholesale screw business at 19 and built it into the Adolf Würth Group, which posted record $13 billion in sales in 2013.
Personal life
Würth is married with three children and lives in Künzelsau, Germany.
Würth is known as an art collector. His art collection comprises over 15,000 works of art, many of them part of the “Classical Modernity”.
Honors and awards
Würth has received many honors over the years, including, but not limited to being inducted into Hall of Fame of German Industry and receiving the Ludwig Erhard medal, which rewards individuals who have attained exemplary results in their work for the public good and for the development of the social market economy.
Würth is an honorary doctor and honorary senator of the University of Tübingen and was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Grand Cross of the Order of Merit) of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Diesel medal, and the Medal of Merit of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
In March 2004, Reinhold Würth received the French medal and was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honour. On 18 November 2005, Professor Reinhold Würth was appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau, a military and civil order of the Netherlands, by royal decision.
- 1985 Federal Cross of Merit
- 1987 Economic Medal of the State of Baden-Württemberg
- 1991 Honorary Senator of the University of Tübingen
- 1994 Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg
- 1996 Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class
- 1998 Montblanc de la Culture (for involvement in the promotion of art and culture)
- 1999: Professor at the University of Karlsruhe (TH), management of inter-faculty Institute for Entrepreneurship
- Honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Economics, University of Tübingen
- Staufer Medal
- 2000 Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France)
- 2001 Innovation Award of the SPD
- 2002 Reinhold-Maier Medal of Reinhold-Maier Foundation
- 2003 Honorary Citizen of Künzelsau
- 2004 Knight of the Legion of Honour (France)
- acceptance into the Business Hall of Fame (Initiative of Manager Magazin and the House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany (Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland), Bonn, Germany)
- German Founder’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
- Ludwig Erhard Prize for Business Journalism
- Diesel Gold Medal of the German Institute for Inventions
- 2005 Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)
- Honorary Senator of the University of Stuttgart
- May 2007: Honorary doctorate in art history and museum design at the University of Palermo
- November 2007: Honorary doctorate from the University of Louisville (Kentucky, USA)
- 2008 Grand Order of Merit of South Tyrol
- 2009 University Award of the University of Tübingen
- Entrepreneur Award 2009 of the Business Club Aachen-Maastricht
- 2011 Emil Beck Memorial Award of the Fencing Club Tauberbischofsheim
- 2012 James Simon Prize of James Simon Foundation to Carmen and Reinhold Würth – Award for exemplary, social and cultural activities in Germany
- Carl-Friedrich Medal of the Faculty of Economics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
- 2013 International Folkwang Prize
- 2015: Honorary Citizen of Schwäbisch Hall
Wuerth is the owner of the Wuerth Group, a German maker of screws and tools. The Kuenzelsau-based company is closely held, sells its industrial construction materials in about 80 countries and reported revenue of 12.7 billion euros ($14.4 billion) in 2017. It has about 76,000 employees and 3.5 million customers.
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