Carl Ferdinand Oetker Net Worth: Carl Ferdinand Oetker is a German businessman who has a net worth of $1.7 billion. As one of the heirs to the Oetker fortune, Carl Ferdinand Oetker received his portion of the family wealth built on baking and pudding powder. Dr. Oetker, still the source of his fortune, is now a broadly diversified holding company that employs around 26,000 people and generates some $15 billion in annual revenue. With the roots being set in 1891, the company has made an enormous expansion over the years. Initially, it was led by founder August Oetker, a pharmacist, who was then succeeded by his grandson Rudolf August Oetker, a former Nazi SS officer and the driving force behind the brand’s growth. Since its inception, Dr. Oetker has added new food products and expanded into beverages and services like container shipping and finance, as well as luxury hotels. It was after the company’s leader at the time, Rudolf August Oetker, died in 2007 that he left behind eight children from three marriages and a vast family wealth. Although each of the heirs and their families received12.5% of Bielefeld-based Dr. Oetker, they are still unhappy and the rivalry between them continues.
REAL TIME NET WORTH — as of 5/4/17
$2.1 B
The Oetker fortune — of which Carl Ferdinand Oetker is one of eight billionaire beneficiaries — was built on baking and pudding powder. Now broadly diversified, Dr August Oetker KG — a holding company whose subsidiaries employ some 26,000 people and generate around $15 billion in annual revenue — traces its roots to 1891, when August Oetker, a pharmacist, started selling non-perishable baking powder. After World War II, his grandson Rudolf August Oetker, a former Nazi SS officer, quickly rose to prominence as the driving force behind one of Germany’s most recognizable brands. In 1950, according to the family history “Die Oetkers,” Oetker produced more than 750 million packages of baking and pudding powder. Personifying Germany’s Wirtschaftswunder, or economic miracle, he developed additional food products and expanded into beverages, container shipping, financial services and luxury hotels. He died in 2007, at age 90, leaving eight children from three marriages. The heirs, who along with their families each own 12.5% percent of the conglomerate, have disagreed over the management and future direction of Oetker, however. Split into two camps, the rivalry is between the children from Rudolf August’s first two marriages — Rosely Schweizer, August, Christian and Richard Oetker and Bergit Graefin Douglas — and the siblings from the third marriage: Carl Ferdinand, Julia and Alfred Oetker. Alfred was expected to take over as general partner from his half-brother August in 2010, but he was blocked by the older siblings, who instead crowned Richard Oetker. In January 2015, with a proxy fight pending before an arbitration tribunal, the groups agreed to recruit an outside CEO when Richard retires in 2017. Carl Ferdinand studied Economics and International Relations at Brown University, then started his career at Boston Consulting Group. Since 2009, he has been with Bankhaus Lampe KG, which caters to wealthy individuals, medium-sized corporate clients and institutional investors. A private bank founded in 1852, it is now owned by the Oetker family.
Source:
1. forbes