Rolf Gerling (born 15 December 1954) is a German billionaire businessman, philanthropist, investor and heir to the

Gerling-Konzern The Gerling-Konzern, also known as the Gerling Group, was an internationally operating Cologne-based multi-line insurance company that was taken over in April 2006 by the Hanover-based Talanx Group, brand name HDI Haftpflichtverband der Deutsch ...

. His net worth is estimated at $2.3 billion (2024) by Forbes magazine.

Early life and education

Gerling was born 15 December 1954 in Cologne, West Germany, one of three children, to

Hans Gerling Hans Gerling (born June 6, 1915 in Cologne, † August 14, 1991) was a German businessman who headed the Gerling Konzern, one of Europe's largest insurance groups, from 1949 until his death. He was the second of three sons of Auguste, b. Hoffmeist ...

, then the largest insurance provider in Germany through

, and Irene "Inge" Gerling (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Uhrmacher; died 1990), an interior designer and gallery owner. Gerling was educated at the Montessori school followed by Schiller-Gymnasium in Cologne. After completing his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

he completed an internship at Vereins- und Westbank Hamburg followed Economics studies at University of Zurich from 1974 to 1979 (Licentiate). In 1986, he completed his Doctorate.

Career

Gerling has been employed with his family firm since 1989. He inherited a 94% stake in

from his father

, valued at US$1.6 billion in 1992. Gerling Konzern is one of the world's largest writers of

reinsurance Reinsurance is insurance that an insurance company purchases from another insurance company to insulate itself (at least in part) from the risk of a major claims event. With reinsurance, the company passes on ("cedes") some part of its own insu ...

policies. Gerling managed the firm until he sold his stake in 2005 to the Talanx Group. Today, Gerling primarily is a private investor and environmentalist. His portfolio includes real estate through companies like DufourIm AG. He also operates the charitable Fondazione Gerling where he resides in

Ticino, Switzerland Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

Private

Gerling is married to Katharina Gerling, a

German Canadian German Canadians (german: Deutsch-Kanadier or , ) are Canadian citizens of German ancestry or Germans who emigrated to and reside in Canada. According to the 2016 census, there are 3,322,405 Canadians with full or partial German ancestry. Some ...

dual citizen, and resides in

Tegna, Switzerland Tegna is a former municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The municipalities of Cavigliano, Tegna and Verscio merged on 14 April 2013 into the new municipality of Terre di Pedemonte.

. He has one daughter.

References

External links

Forbes
profile

Early life and education

Career

Private

References

External links

Further reading