XanderC
Administrator
Joined: 08 Dec 2011
Posts: 187
Location: Smethwick
|
 Posted: 14/06/2015 18:50 Post subject: BIO on Georg Schaeffler |
 |
|
BIO on Georg Schaeffler
[url=http://www.99poze.ro/p/928326b224664e86773318bb7b65c8bd.jpg] [/url]
Real Time Net Worth As of 6/14/15 $27 Billion
Georg Schaeffler on Forbes Lists
Place #21 Billionaires (2015)
Place #1 in Germany
Place #71 in 2014
The stereotype of financially conservative Germans having an aversion to leverage doesn't apply to Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann and her only son, Georg Schaeffler. They're the proprietors of Schaeffler Group, which encompasses Schaeffler AG, one of the world's largest producers of ball bearings and machine components. In 2008, the company announced a $15-billion, debt-financed takeover of publicly traded tire and auto parts giant Continental AG. For a while, in the wake of the ensuing worldwide financial crisis, it looked as if the high-wire act might all come crashing down. Continental's sales and share price plummeted, forcing the Schaefflers into debt-restructuring negotiations with their creditor banks. When the dust settled, after a Continental rights offering to raise capital and a round of debt refinancing, the Schaefflers owned 49.9% of Continental. Since then, as the auto market has rebounded, they've continued to pay down debt via Continental share sales and excess cash flow. Since bottoming out in February 2009, Continental's share price has risen 18-fold. Through Schaeffler Group and its parent, Schaeffler Verwaltungs GmbH, Georg and Maria-Elisabeth now own 46% of Continental, a stake worth around $17 billion. Most of the increase in the Schaefflers' net worth is attributable to the continued spectacular success of Continental and a better understanding on the part of Forbes of the financial strength of Schaeffler Group, independent of Continental. The brothers Wilhelm and Georg Schaeffler (Maria-Elisabeth's husband), both holders of Ph.D. degrees, founded the manufacturer that became known as INA in Herzogenaurach, Germany, in 1946. Maria-Elisabeth took over the company in 1996 following the death of Georg (Wilhelm Schaeffler died in 1981). Her son (also named Georg) served two years in the German armed forces -- he was a lieutenant in the air force reserves -- and worked within Schaeffler Group from 1990 to 1996. Following his father's death, Georg studied law in the U.S and wound up practicing international business law in Dallas. He joined his mother in running Schaeffler Group in 2009, amid the turbulences caused by the Continental AG takeover. He is the head of the supervisory board of Schaeffler Group and a member of the supervisory board of Continental AG. Now the richest German, he owns 80% of umbrella company INA Holding Schaeffler GmbH & Co. KG and his mother, 20%. Today, Schaeffler Group, which had revenues of $15.4 billion in 2013, is active in the automotive, industrial and aerospace sectors, and employs 80,000 in about 170 locations in 49 countries. |
|
