Guenter Herz & family
$3.6 B
After the death of his father Max in 1965, Guenter Herz, at age 24, grabbed the reins of his family’s coffee business and built upon Max’s idea of opening stores where coffee could be both sipped and sold over the counter — a forerunner to Starbucks. Guenter ran the business for almost 35 years, building Tchibo into a retailing force by adding a wide range of other consumer goods and services. A family feud heated up after he advanced a plan to take the company public to finance acquisitions and fortify itself against deep-pocketed competitors. In 2003, sister Daniela and he sold their combined 40% interest in the family holding company — which included a stake in skin-care products maker Beiersdorf, whose brands include Nivea — for an estimated $5 billion. They plowed a chunk of those funds into private equity firm Mayfair SE, which, in 2006, acquired shipping classification company Germanischer Lloyd. In December 2012, the company agreed to merge with Det Norske Veritas of Norway. The combined DNV GL Group, of which Mayfair owns 36.5%, has 15,000 employees and annual revenue of around $2.8 billion from providing classification and certification services to clients in the oil and gas, maritime and renewable energy sectors. Mayfair also owns 44% of Vapiano Group; a franchiser of self-serve Italian food restaurants, it was founded in 2002 by the German entrepreneur Gregor Gerlach. With over 175 outlets in 31 countries, Vapiano is looking to establish a presence in Japan and China. Guenter, an avid fan of race horses and competitive sailing, has enjoyed success as a breeder of trotters.
Gunter Herz is a German entrepreneur who has an estimated net worth of $2.8 billion as of May 2015 according to Forbes. According to Forbes, he is the 34th richest person in Germany and is ranked 527th in the list of World Billionaires.
Herz earned his estimated net worth of $2.7 billion when, along with his siblings, he inherited a fortune from their father, Max Herz, who is a coffee magnate. For 35 years, he is the head of the family’s Tchibo Holding which is now called Maxingvest AG. In 1977, the firm bought a 25% stake in the publicly listed Beiersdorf AG. In 1980, it has acquired a stake in Reemstma, a European cigarette company. Such stake was increased to 76% over the years. In 2002, Gunter stepped down as the CEO of the group. He and his sister Daniela sold their combined 40% in the firm to their mother and three brothers (two of them are billionaires) for an estimated $5 billion in 2003. They invested the money they received in the private equity firm Mayfair SE, which acquired in 2011 40% of the Vapiano Group, a restaurant chain which operates in more than 70 locations in Europe, the U.S. and the Middle East. His two children, Michaela and Christian, sit on the management board of the firm.
Gunter Herz acquired, in 2006, the shipping classification company Germanischer Lloyd. In December 2012, it has agreed to merge with Norway’s Det Norske Veritas and will be called DNV GL Group.
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