Johanna Maria Quandt (''née'' Bruhn; 21 June 1926 – 3 August 2015) was a German billionaire businesswoman and the widow of industrialist

Herbert Quandt Herbert Werner Quandt (22 June 1910 – 2 June 1982) was a German industrialist credited with having saved BMW when it was at the point of bankruptcy and made a huge profit in doing so. Quandt also oversaw the use at his family's factories ...

, who resurrected BMW from bankruptcy. When she died in 2015 she was the 8th richest person in Germany (and the richest German woman), 77th richest person in the world, and the 11th richest woman worldwide according to ''

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 re ...

''.

Career at BMW

Johanna Bruhn became a secretary in her future husband's office in the 1950s and eventually became his personal assistant. The two married in 1960. After his death in 1982, she was a major shareholder in BMW and sat on its supervisory board from 1982 until she retired in 1997. Much of that time she served as deputy chairwoman of the board. She owned 16.7% of BMW at the time of her death.

Personal life

The two children of her marriage, Stefan and

Susanne Susanne may refer to: * Susanne (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name) *, later USS ''SP-411'', a United States Navy patrol boat in commission from 1917 to 1919 *, the proposed name and designation for a ves ...

, are also substantial shareholders in BMW and now sit on the supervisory board of the company. Police prevented an attempt to kidnap her and her daughter Susanne Klatten in 1978. Johanna lived quietly in

Bad Homburg Bad Homburg vor der Höhe () is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's offic ...

. A programme by the German public broadcaster, ARD, in October 2007 described in detail the role of the Quandt family businesses during the Second World War. As a result, four family members announced, on behalf of the entire Quandt family, their intention to fund a research project in which a historian will examine the family's activities during Hitler's dictatorship. As of August 2014, the Quandt family is estimated to be worth $46.3 billion. Johanna Quandt died at the age of 89 in her home in

near

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. She created the foundation ''Johanna Quandt Stiftung'', to provide training for aspiring business journalists. The foundation also provides prizes for outstanding business journalism. In 2009 she was awarded the Grand Cross of Merit.

References

External links

Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People

Photo

Johanna Quandt Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quandt, Johanna 1926 births 2015 deaths Female billionaires Businesspeople from Hesse German billionaires

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek /h/ cou ...

Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German businesswomen People from Bad Homburg vor der Höhe German industrialists

Career at BMW

Personal life

See also

References

External links