Franjo Pooth (born July 20, 1969) is a German businessman and former

CEO 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 especiall ...

of ''Maxfield''.

Early life

Pooth was born on July 20, 1969 and is originally from

Meerbusch Meerbusch () is a town in Rhein-Kreis Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has been an incorporated town since 1970. Meerbusch is the municipality with the most income millionaires in North Rhine-Westphalia. Geography Meerbusch is a town i ...

, a city near

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

. His father is the architect Franz-Josef Pooth. Franjo Pooth went to the Mataré-School in Meerbusch and the Otto-Kühne-School in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

. His brother Mano is also a businessman.

Business

After his studies at the

Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in the world. Its wide-ranging programme ...

in London, Pooth joined the Firstgate Internet AG (subsidiary company of

Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom w ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. He then founded the brand agency ''MPFC'', together with his partners Coordt von Mannstein and Patrik Graf von Faber Castell. In 2003, Pooth founded the consumer electronic brand ''Maxfield'', whose core business was to produce unique designed

MP3 player A portable media player (PMP) (also including the related digital audio player (DAP)) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. The data is typically stored o ...

s and trend-orientated electronic devices in the European market. Pooth was its CEO until 2008 and was the finalist of the 2006

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award The EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards previously Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards is an award sponsored by Ernst & Young in recognition of entrepreneurship. Founded in 1986 in Milwaukee as a single award, as of 2016 twenty-five pro ...

contest, representing ''Maxfield GmbH''. In 2009 Franjo Pooth was sentenced to one year on probation and a € 100,000 fine by a court in Düsseldorf due to corruption and bribery. He was convicted of having bribed key personnel of the bank Sparkasse Düsseldorf to sign off on bank loans for his company ''Maxfield GmbH''.

Personal life

Pooth has been married to German television personality

Verona Pooth Verona Pooth (née Feldbusch; born 30 April 1968) is a German television personality, model, and occasional actress. In 1993, she was Miss Germany and Miss Intercontinental and represented Germany at the Miss Universe 1993 contest. Early life ...

since 2004. They have two children together, San Diego (b. September 10, 2003) and Rocco Ernesto (b. June 4, 2011).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pooth, Franjo 1969 births Living people Businesspeople from North Rhine-Westphalia People from Rhein-Kreis Neuss