Dirk Erich Markus (born January 15, 1971) is a German-born

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

. He is the

co-founder An organizational founder is a person who has undertaken some or all of the formational work needed to create a new organization, whether it is a business, a charitable organization, a governing body, a school, a group of entertainers, or any othe ...

and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of pan-European investment group Aurelius. From an initial investment of €500,000 invested in 2005, Markus created one of Europe's largest private equity and asset management groups with revenues of over €4

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i. ...

Early life

Markus was born in Regensburg,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to parents Manfred and Ingrid Markus. As a child he moved to Austria where his father was professor of Anglistics at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (german: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck; la, Universitas Leopoldino Franciscea) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. ...

and his mother was a teacher. Markus studied Business Administration with a minor in Russian at the

University of St. Gallen A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, Switzerland. He received his doctorate in "Strategic Cooperation in the Multimedia Industry" from St. Gallen and was a visiting

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

Career

Markus started his career as a

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants ...

with

McKinsey McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

, where he focused on cost reduction as well as growth programs. He then founded Mercateo, an online business procurement platform where he was responsible for finance and corporate development. Following the sale of Mercateo to German utility E.ON, he co-founded a publicly owned industrial holding company. Together with Gert Purkert, Markus co-founded investment company Aurelius in 2005. With startup capital of €500,000, they began acquiring companies in special situations and in periods of radical change. Today, Aurelius is a well-known pan-European private equity group. Its publicly traded fund Aurelius Equity Opportunities consisted of 22 subsidiaries generating a turnover of approximately €4 billion in the 2017 financial year.

Personal life

Markus moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 2013 and this is where he currently lives. In 1988, he set the tyrolean track & field record for 3×1000 m in the men's under-18 category. This record is still held today. In addition, Markus is a passionate racing

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

, completing the 2017 Castle Ride in Tonbridge, Kent, at a time of 08:03:32. Markus is also an avid art collector and has a collection of over 350 socialist propaganda posters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Markus, Dirk 1971 births Living people People from Regensburg German company founders University of St. Gallen alumni 21st-century German businesspeople German expatriates in Switzerland