Stefan Quandt

Stefan Quandt (born 9 May 1966) is a German engineer and industrialist. He is also a billionaire and was ranked in as 96th richest person in the world in the Forbes list of billionaires, who put his personal wealth at $7.6 billion [ [http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/10/07billionaires_Stefan-Quandt_SWC0.html Forbes listing] .]

He was born in Bad Homburg to Herbert Quandt and Johanna Quandt. He attended the University of Karlsruhe where he studied engineering from 1987 to 1993. From 1993-1994, he worked for the Boston Consulting Group in Munich. From 1994 to 1996 he worked for the Datacard Corporation of Minneapolis as a marketing manager in Hong Kong.

On his father's death in 1982 he acquired 17.4% of BMW, the company his father had saved from bankruptcy in 1959. Quandt also inherited from his father substantial holdings in other companies, many of which he runs through his holding company, Delton AG. These include:
* 76.8% of CEAG, (small power supplies and recharging devices for mobile phones)
* 50.3% of Thiel Logistik AG, a logistics company
* 100% of Heel GmbH, which makes homeopathic medicines
* 100% of CeDo Household Products, which makes freezer bags, plastic and aluminium wraps and foils, bin liners, and coffee filters.

With his mother, he owned 18.3% of Gemplus International, a large digital security company, before its merger to form Gemalto in 2006. He also has held seats on the supervisory boards of Dresdner Bank AG and of the Gerling Konzern Allgemeine Versicherungs AG. Rumours predict he will eventually become head of BMW's supervisory board. His mother Johanna Quandt and sister Susanne Klatten are also substantial shareholders in BMW and other large German companies making them one of the wealthiest families in the world.

In autumn 2005 he married Katharina, a software engineer. They have a daughter, born on New Year's Eve that same year. He has been sighted watching football matches but otherwise keeps a low profile.

A programme by the German public broadcaster, ARD, in October 2007 described in detail the role of the Quandt family businesses during the Second World War. As a result four family members announced, on behalf of the entire Quandt family, their intention to fund a research project in which a historian will examine the family's activities during Hitler's dictatorship [ [http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,511193,00.html Description of the programme by Der Spiegel] ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/10/2004/LIR.jhtml?passListId=10&passYear=2004&passListType=Person&uniqueId=SWC0&datatype=Person Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People]
* [http://www.delton.de/images/content/ag/s_quandt.jpgPhoto]