Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler (born 17 August 1941) is a German businesswoman and one of the owners of

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. ...

, one of and the world's largest producers of

rolling bearing In mechanical engineering, a rolling-element bearing, also known as a rolling bearing, is a bearing which carries a load by placing rolling elements (such as balls or rollers) between two concentric, grooved rings called races. The relative m ...

s. The other owner is her son Georg F. W. Schaeffler.

Early life

Schaeffler was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

in 1941, which was then in the

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; cs, Protektorát Čechy a Morava; its territory was called by the Nazis ("the rest of Czechia"). was a partially annexed territory of Nazi Germany established on 16 March 1939 following the German oc ...

, and grew up in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria.

Career

In 1963, Schaeffler married Georg Schaeffler, and moved to

Herzogenaurach Herzogenaurach (; vmf, Herziaura) is a town in the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt, in Bavaria, Germany. It is best known for being the home of the major international sporting goods companies Adidas and Puma, as well as the large car parts m ...

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...

, which is located within

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. It was through Schaeffler's marriage that she would come to work for Schaeffler Group AG. In 1996 Georg died, and she took the reins of the family business. It has been Schaeffler's legacy to continue with her husband's life's work, growing the family business, Schaeffler Group AG. Since 1996 Schaeffler has led her company through multiple lucrative acquisitions, including: INA, LUK, and FAG. These three companies in particular are large brand name corporations in making rolling bearings. These three acquisitions have made Schaeffler Group AG one of the largest producers of rolling bearings and linear motion products in the World. In 1999, Schaeffler led the acquisition of the remaining shares of LuK, a clutch manufacturer, obtaining 50% of the shares of the company for Schaeffler Group AG. Schaeffler Group already owned 50% of the LuK shares. In 2001 she led the acquisition of FAG Kugelfischer Georg Schäfer AG Schweinfurt, with the acquisitions of FAG and INA, Schaeffler Group AG had become the second largest producer of rolling bearings in the World. In 2009 Schaeffler Group purchased a significant share of the company Continental AG. Since 1996, Schaeffler Group AG has seen an increase in annual turnover and employment. By 2013 the annual turnover reached approximately 10 billion euros, and the employment tripled to over 70,000 employees, an impressive mark for a completely privately owned company.

Political activities

Schaeffler served as a

CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social Un ...

delegate to the

Federal Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. Although the convention was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation, the intention fr ...

for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2004. During the

Hannover Messe The Hannover Messe (HM; "Hanover Fair") is one of the world's largest trade fairs, dedicated to the topic of industry development. It is organized by Deutsche Messe AG and held on the Hanover Fairground in Hanover, Germany. Typically, there are ...

in April 2016, she was among the 15 German corporate leaders who were invited to a private dinner with President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Deloitte Germany, Member of the Advisory Board (2009-2018) * Austrian State and Industrial Holding (ÖIAG), Member of the Supervisory Board (2008-2014) *

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

, Member of the European Advisory Board (2005-2014) *

BayernLB Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB; Bavarian State Bank) is a publicly regulated bank based in Munich, Germany and one of the six Landesbanken. It is 75% owned by the Free State of Bavaria (indirectly via BayernLB Holding AG) and 25% owned by the ''S ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (-2014) * Nürnberger Lebensversicherung AG, Member of the Supervisory Board (2012-2013)

Non-profit-organizations

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees *

Mozarteum University of Salzburg Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Moz ...

, Member of the Advisory Board *

Salzburg Easter Festival The Salzburg Easter Festival (German: ''Osterfestspiele Salzburg'') is an annual festival of opera and classical music held in Salzburg, Austria during Easter week. For most of the festival's history, the resident orchestra of the Easter Festival ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees *

Konzertgesellschaft München The Konzertgesellschaft München is a non-profit association dedicated to the cultivation and promotion of classical music and, since 2017, jazz. Through the international singing competition Vokal genial, which took place annually alternating with ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees (2002-2018)

Recognition

Schaeffler has been given many awards and accolades, including the following: * 2001 - Cross of Merit with Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany * 2001 - Medal of Honor by the Nuremberg Chamber of Commerce for the Mid-Franconian region * 2002 - Honorary citizen of the town of Höchstadt/Aisch * 2003 - Bavarian Order of Merit * 2004 - "Family Entrepreneur of the Year" award, presented by the economics magazine "impulse" and the "INTES Akademie für Familienunternehmen" (INTES Academy for Family-Owned Companies) * 2005 - Honorary Member of the Senate of the Transylvania University of Brasov, Romania * 2005 - Honorary citizen of the town of Jeonju, Jeollabuk-Do province, Korea * 2006 - Honorary citizen of the town of Herzogenaurach Entry in the "Golden Book" of the Erlangen-Höchstadt district * 2007 - Large Silver Medal with Star for Services to the Republic of Austria * 2007 - 1st Class Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany * 2007 - Karmarsch Medal * 2011 - "Großer Tiroler Adler" medal * 2011 - "Personality of the Year" award presented by the ÖkoGlobe-Institut of Duisburg-Essen University * 2012 - "Gold medal of the District" for the Erlangen-Höchstadt district * 2013 - "Family Entrepreneur of the Year award, 2012", selected by a jury of representatives of German industry and ''

Handelsblatt The ''Handelsblatt'' (literally "commerce paper" in English) is a German-language business newspaper published in Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Du ...

''Press Releases: Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler receives ÖkoGlobe 2011 award for Personality of the Year; Schaeffler AG; 12 September 2011

References

Bibliography

*Press Releases: Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler receives the Karmarsch Medal from the Association of Friends of Hanover University; Schaeffler AG; 3 December 2007 *Press Releases: Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler is awarded the Cross of Merit, 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for special services to the nation; Schaeffler AG; 5 October 2007 * AND SOCIAL COMMITMENT OF THE BUSINESSWOMAN FROM HERZOGENAURACH Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler Receives German Verdienstkreuz; Schaeffler AG; 3 May 2001

External links

Forbes World's Richest People
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaeffler, Maria-Elisabeth Female billionaires Businesspeople from Bavaria German billionaires Living people 1941 births Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German businesswomen 20th-century German businesspeople Businesspeople from Prague People from Erlangen-Höchstadt 21st-century German businesswomen 21st-century German businesspeople