As the richest woman in Germany, Susanne Klatten has amassed a staggering fortune from her inheritance and savvy business investments.
Besides BMW, Susanne Klatten also owns Altana AG, a pharmaceutical company.
Besides BMW, Susanne Klatten also owns Altana AG, a pharmaceutical company.
Altana AG is a German pharmaceutical company headquartered in Schwalmstadt near Kassel. It was founded in 1976 by Susanne Klatten (the richest woman in Germany) and her husband Stefan Quandt. As of 2018, Altana is one of the largest employers in Hesse with more than 4,000 employees worldwide and has a market capitalization of around €3 billion ($3.5 billion).
The company’s products include analgesics (pain killers), antiemetics (drugs against vomiting), antibiotics for inflammatory bowel diseases and gastroenterological disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn’s disease etc., bronchodilators (drugs against asthma) and psychotropic substances used in psychiatry
Susanne Klatten has two children with her husband Jan Klatten and three from a previous marriage.
Susanne Klatten has two children with her husband Jan Klatten and three from a previous marriage. They live in Munich, Germany and are active philanthropists.
Their son Christian is an investor and the chairman of BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke) Automotive Group where he is responsible for managing both the car manufacturing as well as financial services divisions of the company. Christian’s wife Katrin Schulte-Hillen is an art historian who was named “German Philanthropist of the Year” by Cercle de Lorraine in 2017 after she cofounded Art & Culture eV which aims to promote education on art history through its online platform Art&CultureTV.
Their daughter Johanna works at LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton as head of communications for group communication at Europe/Middle East/Africa region based in Paris, France .
The family’s wealth amounts to nearly 20 billion euros
The family’s wealth amounts to nearly 20 billion euros. The Klatten fortune is divided between Susanne’s two children. Her son Stefan, who lives in Munich, and her daughter Sylvia, who lives in Berlin with her husband and three daughters.
Sebastian Klatten is the only grandchild of Susanne Klatten and Detlev Quandt. He has two sisters who are also part of the family business: Alexandra (born 1981) and Anastasia (born 1986).
50-year-old Susanne Heering Klatten was born in Bad Homburg in Germany. She is the daughter of Herbert Quandt, who rescued the carmaker BMW from bankruptcy in 1959, and his third wife Johanna Quandt, who died in the summer of 2015 at the age of 89.
Susanne Heering Klatten was born in Bad Homburg in Germany. She is the daughter of Herbert Quandt, who rescued the carmaker BMW from bankruptcy in 1959 and his third wife Johanna Quandt, who died in the summer of 2015 at the age of 89.
Herbert and Johanna’s first two children were born with Down syndrome and died shortly after birth. Susanne’s older brother Stefan was born in 1967. His father wanted another child but only if it did not have any genetic defects or disorders; so when Susanne was born without any signs of Down syndrome or other abnormalities, she was considered a “miracle baby”.
The widow and mother of three children inherited around 12.5 percent of capital stock in BMW and approximately 50 percent of Altana AG shares.
Susanne Klatten inherited a large part of the BMW fortune as well as shares in Altana AG. She was also the widow and mother of three children. She inherited around 12.5 percent of capital stock in BMW and approximately 50 percent of Altana AG shares from her father Herbert Quandt, who passed away in 1982.
Since then, she has been one of the richest women in Germany and Europe.
A very wealthy German family
Susanne Klatten is the richest woman in Germany, with an estimated fortune of $21.4 billion. That’s a lot of zeros for you to wrap your head around! She may be best known for her involvement with BMW and Altana, two very well-known German companies in the automotive and pharmaceutical industries, respectively.
Klatten’s grandfather founded Altana during World War II. He was convicted of war crimes but never paid any financial penalty as part of his punishment—and neither did his company nor its employees during the postwar years when Germany was rebuilding itself from the war’s devastation. In fact, it appears that this powerful family has been able to avoid paying taxes over several generations by simply not filing them at all (and still avoiding them today).
The fortune accumulated over these many years has allowed Susanne Klatten to live an extravagant lifestyle full of luxury items such as private jets and mansions all around Europe; she also donates millions each year through foundations set up by her parents’ charitable trust fund.[5]
Conclusion
There are few who can match her humble beginnings to the staggering net worth she’s amassed. But, for Klatten and all of the other billionaires in our world today, it’s not about numbers. It’s about living a life on your own terms and doing good for others around you.
