Episode Details
Back to Episodes
How the Richest Family in Germany Built a Fortune from Cash Registers
Description
Episode 15 of Family Business Stories with Fexingo tells the remarkable tale of the Quandt and Klatten families, who built a fortune from cash registers under the Nazis, lost it all after WWII, and rebuilt it into what is now Germany's richest family — worth over $50 billion. We focus on the 12-year-old boy who inherited a bankrupt company in 1962 and turned it into BMW Group, the global luxury car giant. Learn how Susanne Klatten, Germany's wealthiest woman, and her brother Stefan Quandt still control nearly 47% of BMW shares today, and why the family's unique succession strategy — grooming heirs outside the family business — has kept them out of the tabloids and in control for three generations. We also explore the ethical controversy over the family's Nazi-era past, using forced labor in their factories. A nuanced look at wealth, legacy, and moral reckoning in a family business.