Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Schaeffler (born 19 October 1964) is a German billionaire businessman and owner of 80% of the holding company INA Holding Schaeffler GmbH & Co. KG, which includes Schaeffler AG. His mother, Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler, owns the other 20%. Both inherited their fortune from Schaeffler's father, Georg Schaeffler, who died in 1996. Schaeffler is the head of the supervisory board of Schaeffler Group and a member of the supervisory board of Continental AG. As of March 2020, Schaeffler was ranked by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' as the 96th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $11.2 billion.

Early life

Schaeffler was born in

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 116,062 inhab ...

. From 1986 to 1990, Schaeffler studied business and economics 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, and worked within the

Schaeffler Group Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG, also known as Schaeffler Group (''Schaeffler-Gruppe'' in German), is a German manufacturer of rolling element bearings for automotive, aerospace and industrial uses. It was founded in 1946 by brothers Dr. ...

from 1990 to 1996. He later went on to receive a law degree and a masters from Duke University and practised international business law in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. He served two years in the

German armed forces The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

, reaching the rank of lieutenant in the air force reserves.

Career

Schaeffler has expanded the company over the years. In 1999, he took over the German automotive manufacturer LuK GmbH, and in 2002, the German producer of ball bearings FAG Kugelfischer. After the expense of $15 billion, in 2008 Georg and the newly founded

, acquired auto parts giant and one of the largest tire manufacturers in the world, Continental AG. The

employs over 80,000 people in 170 locations in 49 different countries. According to

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...

, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) "...embarked on a contentious audit of Schaeffler in 2012, eventually determining that he owed about $1.2 billion in unpaid taxes and penalties. But after seven years of grinding bureaucratic combat, the IRS abandoned its campaign", and accepted "tens of millions".

Wealth

According to ''

'', Schaeffler has a net worth of US$20.1 billion. In March 2020, Schaeffler was ranked #96 on Forbes' list of global billionaires and #4 for Germany. He and his mother's ( Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler) combined wealth is estimated to be US$34 billion.

Other activities

* Commerzbank, Member of the Central Advisory Board

Personal life

He is divorced with four children and lives in Herzogenaurach. He visits the United States several times a year.Unter uns – Deutschlands reichsten Mann
'' Süddeutsche Zeitung'' Online, 5 March 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaeffler, Georg Businesspeople from Bavaria German billionaires Living people University of St. Gallen alumni 1964 births People from Erlangen 20th-century German businesspeople 21st-century German businesspeople