Some folks were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but they didn’t stop there. They go above and beyond to have their names printed in gold.
It may be said of Susanne Klatten, the richest woman in Germany, who is now ranked 64 on Bloomberg’s billionaire list and has a net worth of $21.6 billion as of May 5th, 2022.
She owns nearly one-fifth of the German luxury vehicle maker Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW), which also owns the Mini and Rolls-Royce trademarks. She also has substantial holdings in the chemical business Altana, the carbon manufacturer SGL Carbon, the credit card company Entrust Datacard, and the turbine developer Nordex.
Early life and running businesses
Susanne Quandt was born on April 28, 1962, to Herbert Quandt and Johanna Quandt, the German businessman’s third wife. Herbert’s previous two marriages resulted in four children. His estate was divided among his wives and children after his death in 1982.
Susanne worked for an advertising agency, Young & Rubicam, in Frankfurt from 1981 to 1983 after graduating with a degree in business finance. She then went on to study Marketing and Management at the University of Buckingham. She also earned an MBA from the IMD Management School in Lausanne, where she majored in advertising.
To avoid disclosing her identity, she interned at many banks and management consultants, as well as at BMW as a trainee under the name Susanne Kant.
Susanne’s father died, and she got a 50.1% ownership in Altana, a pharmaceutical and chemical factory, where she played a key part in bringing the company to a world-class corporation level, a position on the German DAX’s list of top 30 corporations.
Susanne sold Altana Pharmaceuticals’ rights to a Swiss business, Nycomed, in 2006 for €4.5 billion, with the proceeds shared to the owners as recompense. Meanwhile, Susanne purchased the bulk of Altana’s stock in 2009, becoming the company’s majority shareholder. She oversaw the company alongside SKion, which she owned and operated entirely.
SGL Carbon, a German graphite manufacturer brand, also gave her the chance to increase her stake to nearly a fourth.
Following her mother’s death in 2015, she received 19.2% of BMW shares and joined the BMW supervisory board alongside her brother, Stefan Quandt.
Susanne rescued BMW from collapsing
BMW debuted its first hybrid, the ActiveHybrid 7, in 2010, and its first electric vehicle, the BMW i3 city car, in 2013. In addition, the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) was debuted in 2014, and the brand ranked third among electric cars sold globally from 2014 to 2016.
When Harald Krueger took over as CEO in 2015, the company began to suffer significantly as BMW lost its market-leading position in the premium segment to Mercedes-Benz. Under Herald’s leadership, the majority of BMW’s e-vehicle expertise defected to competitors, and the company’s profit plummeted.
Susanne took over in 2019, replacing him with Oliver Zipse. But, in recent years, the firm has recovered, inventing around a new generation of electric vehicles, the i4 and iX, and is poised to compete with Tesla.
Personal life and other endeavours
- Susanne was married to Jan Klatten in 1990 and together, they had three children. In 2018 however, the duo got separated.
- She also founded an educational centre for innovation and business creation, UnternehmerTUM at the Technical University of Munich.
- She also founded the Nantesbuch Foundation, an estate site that was converted into an art and nature foundation is to allow people to experience the power of nature.
- She owns 40% of Entrust Datacard, a closely held credit card and passport manufacturer.
- Susanne Klatten is politically inclined towards the center-right political party, the Christian Democratic Union and often supports donations to support their operations.