Hans-Peter Wild (born

16 June Events Pre-1600 * 363 – Emperor Julian marches back up the Tigris and burns his fleet of supply ships. During the withdrawal, Roman forces suffer several attacks from the Persians. * 632 – Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as king ...

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

) is a German-born

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

entrepreneur and lawyer. Wild is the owner and chairman of the fruit juice manufacturer

Capri-Sun Capri-Sun (, ) is a brand of juice concentrate drinks based in Germany and Switzerland. Invented by Rudolf Wild, it was introduced in West Germany in 1969 by his company as Capri-Sonne (a name retired in favor of the English name in 2017). I ...

based in

Zug , neighboring_municipalities = Cham, Baar, Walchwil, Steinhausen, Unterägeri , twintowns = Fürstenfeld (Austria), Kalesija (Bosnia-Herzegowina) Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo r ...

. Until 2014, he was the majority shareholder in the company

Wild Flavors Wild Flavors, Inc. (stylized as "WILD Flavors") is a manufacturer of flavors, colors, and food and beverage ingredients Its headquarters are in Erlanger, Kentucky and the firm is affiliated with Rudolf WILD GmbH & Co. KG and Dr. Hans-Peter Wil ...

, one of the leading manufacturers of natural flavours for the food industry. Hans-Peter Wild lives in Zug and is one of the richest people in Switzerland.

Biography

Hans-Peter Wild, the son of

Rudolf Wild Rudolf Wild (February 25, 1904 in Wiesloch, Baden – September 16, 1995 in Eppelheim) was a German entrepreneur, and the founder of WILD, a producer of natural ingredients for food products and beverages. Biography After studying chemistry ...

and Leonie Wild, was born in Heidelberg in 1941. He passed the first state examination as a lawyer in Heidelberg with distinction. He completed a degree in business studies in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

, majoring in fiscal law and auditing, and an MBA. He spent two years studying at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in Paris and in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

before completing a PhD entitled “The market-dominating company under French law” at the Faculty of Law at the

University of Mannheim The University of Mannheim (German: ''Universität Mannheim''), abbreviated UMA, is a public research university in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967, the university has its origins in the ''Palatine Academy of Sciences'', ...

. After graduation, he worked for the Bremen family business Diersch & Schröder for four years as managing director, being responsible for the company's mineral oil, chemistry and shipping activities.

Entrepreneurial activity

In 1974, he joined his parents’ company

Wild Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...

. Hans-Peter Wild continued with the international expansion of the company in the area of flavours and the

brand. In 1979, he signed boxing world champion

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

as an advertising ambassador and transformed the originally German company into an international corporation. In preparation for the possible listing of the flavourings division on the stock exchange, in 2010, Hans-Peter Wild sold a minority share of 35% in Rudolf Wild GmbH & Co. KG to the financial investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR). With effect as of the end of 2014, Wild and KKR sold the by then Swiss parent company Wild Flavors to the US group

Archer Daniels Midland The Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, commonly known as ADM, is an American multinational food processing and commodities trading corporation founded in 1902 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company operates more than 270 plants and 42 ...

. Not included in this deal were all Capri-Sun companies and the

Eppelheim Eppelheim () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg bordering Heidelberg. It belongs to the district Rhein-Neckar-Kreis. Geography Location and neighboring communities Eppelheim is situated in the valley of the Upper Rhine southwest of the hil ...

-based mechanical engineering company Indag (today: Pouch Partners), Wild's technology subsidiary that produces, among other things, filling and packaging machines for

and other pouches like petfood. These companies remained in Wild's ownership. Via the family office, Wild Group Management, in

, Hans-Peter Wild controls numerous other direct company holdings in the areas of biotechnology and disruptive technologies, In addition to his industrial holdings, Wild also owns the two luxury Salzburg hotels Goldener Hirsch and Schloss Mönchstein.

Commitment

Social and culture

Wild is president of the “Leonie Wild Charitable Foundation”, which he initiated together with his mother in 1997. The

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

helps citizens in need and is involved in social and cultural projects, particularly in the Eppelheim and in the Rhine-Neckar region. In 2016, Hans-Peter Wild donated US$16.5 million to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation in recognition of the contribution of the US military during World War II, and in appreciation of the liberation of Germany from the Nazis.

Music

Hans-Peter Wild is a patron of the Astona Summer Music Academy, which offers talented young musicians from various countries the opportunity every year to make music under the guidance of renowned teaching staff, and perfect their instrumental skills. He also supports the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

and is a member of the board of trustees of the

Heidelberger Frühling The International Music Festival Heidelberger Frühling is an annual classical music festival held in Heidelberg in March and April since 1997, with over 100 events and 47,000 visitors (2018). In addition to the festival's productions and concert ...

foundation, which holds an annual international music festival and also offers a mentoring scheme for talented young musicians.

Science and medicine

In the area of science promotion, Hans-Peter Wild supports the universities of

and

, as well as the

University Hospital of Zürich The University Hospital of Zürich (german: Universitätsspital Zürich, USZ) is one of five university hospitals in Switzerland. The first hospital in Zürich, from which the current hospital derives, is recorded as having existed as early as ...

and the

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...

. The EU

Human Brain Project The Human Brain Project (HBP) is a large ten-year scientific research project, based on exascale supercomputers, that aims to build a collaborative ICT-based scientific research infrastructure to allow researchers across Europe to advance knowl ...

, launched in 2013, is intended to improve understanding of brain structures and functions with the aid of artificial intelligence. The Heidelberg scholarship programme Hans-Peter Wild Talent Scholarship is oriented towards young people in the STEM fields of study. In Mannheim, Wild financed a programme together with the university foundation that hopes to attract new scientific talent. In the area of intensive medicine, the

is working on various projects that are financed via donations from Hans-Peter Wild. In 2001, Hans-Peter Wild endowed Wild Chair for Family Business at the

International Institute for Management Development (IMD) International Institute for Management Development (IMD) is a private business school in Lausanne, Switzerland specializes in executive education offering open enrollment programs for senior executives, as well as longer-term educational engageme ...

, the private business school in Lausanne.

Sport

In 1980, Hans-Peter Wild acquired a cycling team from the Belgian ice cream manufacturer Ijsboerke and renamed it Capri Sun – Koga Miyata. The cycling team was disbanded in 1982. In 2007, he established the charitable Wild Rugby Academy foundation for promoting rugby in Germany, with the aim of raising German rugby to a world-class level. In addition to promoting youth rugby, Hans-Peter Wild also focused on supporting the national rugby team. In sporting terms, through the support of the Wild Rugby Academy, he managed to bring the men's national team almost as far as qualification for the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

. However, he terminated his collaboration with the

German Rugby Federation The German Rugby Federation (german: Deutscher Rugby-Verband or ''DRV'') is the governing body for rugby union in Germany. It organizes Germany national rugby union team, the German national team and the three league divisions: the Rugby-Bundesli ...

in 2017 as he found their organisational structures insufficiently professional to achieve success on an international scale. In order to better understand professional structures in rugby and due to his affinity with his former university town, he acquired the renowned top-league French rugby club Stade Français Paris from the French entrepreneur Thomas Savare. He has been the club's Président du Conseil d’Administration since 2019.

Awards

Hans-Peter Wild has been honorary senator of

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

since 1996, and in 2004, he received the Bayerischer Bierorden (Bavarian Beer Award). The town of Eppelheim made him an

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

in June 2006 for his entrepreneurial achievements and his many years of commitment to the employees of his company and the social facilities in Eppelheim and the region.

Publications

* Das marktbeherrschende Unternehmen im französischen Recht (The market-dominating company under French law), dissertation, Mannheim 1968. * Capri-Sonne. Die Faszination einer Weltmarke (Capri-Sun. The fascination of a global brand), Frankfurt am Main 2001, * Portrait eines Global Player: Geschmack ist weltweit unsere Stärke (Portrait of a global player: taste is our strength worldwide).

References

External links

Rudolf Wild GmbH & Co. KG webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild, Hans Peter 1941 births Living people French rugby union chairmen and investors German billionaires Businesspeople from Heidelberg University of Mannheim alumni Rugby union in Heidelberg German emigrants to Switzerland Stade Français Swiss billionaires