Lift Conference 2015 - IMG 0081 (16457872565)

Jobst Wagner (born 20 February 1959 in

Rehau Rehau is a Town#Germany, town in the Hof (district), district of Hof, in Bavaria, Germany. The first documented name of Rehau was "Resawe" in the year 1234. Rehau is situated in the Fichtelgebirge, 12 km southeast of Hof, Germany, Hof, and 12 ...

) is a

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 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 th ...

Life

After attending schools in Canada, Germany and Switzerland, he graduated in law (lic.jur.) from the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...

. Starting in 1986, he worked in different positions at

Rehau Group The REHAU Group is a family-owned polymer business, which develops, manufactures and markets products for the automotive, construction, furniture, materials, medical and industrial sectors. Rehau employs more than 20,000 people in over 190 ...

, a company founded by his father Helmut Wagner in 1948 in

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 ...

. In 2000, Helmut Wagner transferred control of the company to his sons Jobst and Veit Wagner. Jobst Wagner has three adult children.

Business

As president of the

supervisory board In corporate governance, a governance board also known as council of delegates are chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company and to hire and fire the board of directors. In civil s ...

of the Rehau group, he leads a worldwide group of companies with approximately 18,000 employees in more than 50 countries. The independent, privately held company operates around the globe as a system manufacturer for the construction, automotive and industry sector. The REHAU Group has also a subsidiary, which produces appliances for the medical industry. Jobst Wagner is also one of the largest shareholders of the SMH Verlag AG and is member of the Supervisory Board. He is the founder and the Research Council within the Foundation StrategieDialog21. The StrategieDialog21 (SD21) sees itself as a dialogue platform with a focus on federally-liberal values and derived strategic approaches and impulses for Switzerland.Commitment within the «Foundation Strategiedialog21»
, Strategiedialog21

Art Patronage

At the company’s corporate headquarter in Rehau, Germany, Wagner is making art accessible to employees and the public with the Rehau Art gallery, which organizes various events and exhibitions. One such exhibition displays woodcarvings by the Swiss artist

Franz Gertsch Franz Gertsch (8 March 1930 – 21 December 2022) was a Swiss painter who was known for his large format Hyperrealism (painting), hyperrealistic portraits. Biography Gertsch was born 1930 in Mörigen, Switzerland. Between 1947 and 1952 he studi ...

. Wagner also supports a large number of cultural institutions in Switzerland. Amongst others, he is the president of the

Kunsthalle Bern The Kunsthalle Bern is a ''Kunsthalle'' (art exposition hall) on the Helvetiaplatz in Bern, Switzerland. It was built in 1917–1918 by the Kunsthalle Bern Association and opened on October 5, 1918. Since then, it has been the site of numerous e ...

foundation, member of the foundation board for the Bern Kunstmuseum and GegenwART foundation, as well as advisory board member of the Bern University of the Arts. Together with the Hochfranken business initiative he also supports the International Film Festival Hof.

Honors and awards

In 1999, Wagner received an award for his activities with GegenwART of the ‘Handels- und Industrieverein’ Bern. He is also an honorary citizen of La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin, France. In 2018 Bavarian State Minister for Economic Affairs, Energy and Technology Franz Josef Pschierer awarded REHAU group president Jobst Wagner the State Medal for special services to the Bavarian economy.

Literature

* Executive Profile Jobst Wagner, Bloomberg Businessweek* ''Macher und Mäzen.'' In: '' WirtschaftsBlatt.'' 9. November 2006, pp. 6.
online, in German
. * Schweizer Standards - Aus bester Familie: 100 vorbildliche Schweizer Familienunternehmen, . (in German and French) * ''Vom Sammeln'', with text contributions from Norberto Gramaccini, Michael Krethlow, Reto Sorg and Jobst Wagner, Publisher: Jobst Wagner, .

References

External links

Website of Jobst Wagner (in German)

Supervisory Board of the SMH Verlag AG (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Jobst 1959 births German emigrants to Switzerland Living people Swiss businesspeople People from Rehau