August von Finck Jr. (11 March 1930 – 28 November 2021) was a Swiss-based German

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

businessman. When he died, his net worth was estimated at US$8.8 billion. Von Finck Jr. supported political parties and initiatives in the

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

and

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

parties, groups and persons throughout his life.

Early life

Von Finck was born in 1930 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, the son of August von Finck Sr., and the grandson of

Wilhelm von Finck Wilhelm von Finck (6 February 1848 – 4 April 1924) was a German entrepreneur and banker. Finck was a co-founder of the German companies Allianz and Munich Re. Life In Frankfurt am Main, he was a student at the Hasselsche Institut. He worked ...

, who started a private bank in 1870 that became Merck Finck & Co.

Career

In February 2020, Von Finck sold the majority of his stake in Switzerland's SGS SA, one of the world's largest testing and inspection companies. He sold 960,000 shares valued at $2.4 billion. According to

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

, he had a net worth of US$8.8 billion when he died.

Other interests

The German state government of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

authorized the sale of an incunable about Medieval history to him in 2008. The price was about Euro 20 million.

Supporter of Far-right party

The shy billionaire supported political parties and initiatives in the right-wing and libertarian milieu throughout his life. In the 70s and 80s he supported

Franz Josef Strauß Franz Josef Strauss ( ; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions between ...

(

CSU CSU may refer to: Universities and university systems United States * Columbia Southern University, in Orange Beach, Alabama * California State University system * Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado * Connecticut State Univers ...

). At the beginning of the 1990s he supported the first anti-euro party, the League of Free Citizens, with 4.3 million euros. He later financed the “Citizens' Convention” project around today's AfD politician

Beatrix von Storch Beatrix von Storch (; 27 May 1971) is a German politician and lawyer, who has been the Deputy Parliamentary Leader of the Alternative for Germany since July 2015 and a Member of the Bundestag since September 2017. She previously was a Member of ...

with a sum of millions. Finck was a financial supporter of the German far right party

AfD Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), ...

. An agent of the billionaire was apparently involved in the conception of the AfD-affiliated newspaper “Deutschland Kurier”.

Personal life

Von Finck was married to Francine Le Tanneux von Saint Paul. They had four children and lived in Weinfelden Castle in

Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

canton, Switzerland. His eldest son is

August François von Finck August François von Finck (born 2 May 1968) is a German businessman and the son of August von Finck, Jr., thus grandson of August von Finck, Sr. August François von Finck's great-grandfather Wilhelm von Finck was the co-founder of the private ...

. He died on 28 November 2021, at the age of 91.

References

1930 births 2021 deaths German bankers German billionaires German untitled nobility German expatriates in Switzerland Finck family People from Weinfelden 20th-century German businesspeople 21st-century German businesspeople {{Germany-business-bio-stub