Long Family History
The Quandt family originated in the late 19th century, when Emil Quandt founded a thriving textile company. Before the First World War, his son, Gunther Quandt, took over the company. By supplying the German army with uniforms and other textiles, he earned a considerable sum, which he invested in the purchase of companies and corporate shares. In addition to the acquisition of battery manufacturer Varta, he also acquired shares in first-class companies such as BMW and Daimler-Benz.
In connection with the Quandt family, two golden rules are often mentioned, which the family defined itself. On the one hand, the family business must always grow, and on the other hand, the company must always stay in the family.
Rise to Germany’s Richest Woman
After her bachelor’s degree, Susanne began working at the advertising agency Young & Rubicam in Frankfurt. Later, she began working at the Dresdner Bank in London. After the death of her father in 1982, she received a 50.1% stake in the pharmaceutical and chemical company Altana. She was a member of the company’s supervisory board and contributed significantly to the company’s development to become a leading global company. For example, the company helped to rank among the 30 largest German DAX companies.
In 2006, the entrepreneur acquired Altana’s pharmaceutical activities from the Swiss pharmacy company NycomeN for 4.5 billion euros and distributed this money as a dividend among the shareholders. In 2009, Susanne bought almost all of Altana’s shares and continued to be a supervisory board member. She owned and managed two companies at the time, Altana and SKion. She also holds a 46% stake in Landa Digital Printing.
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In March 2009, Susanne was able to increase its shares to almost a quarter of the shares of the German graphite manufacturer SGL Carbon. Together with her brother Stefan Quandt, she was appointed to the Supervisory Board of BMW after her mother died in 2015. Its share of the company increased to 19.2%.
The Historical Connection with the Third Reich
Klatten commissioned an investigation by historians after a documentary called “The Silence of the Quandts” was aired on German television in 2007, revealing numerous facts about the family’s close ties to the Nazi party and the use of slave workers during the Third Reich. A 1,200-page study, specially commissioned by Susanne Klatten, was published in 2011 and found that the Quandts were inextricably linked to the crimes of the Nazis, according to historian Joachim Scholtyseck, who worked on the report. Thus, the entrepreneur settled apart from the troubled history of her family. For the public, it was a sign that they did not want to deny the historical facts but to act fairly. By reviewing the past of her family, which was, until then, considered a taboo topic in German society, she gained the respect of her fellow citizens and enabled other German companies such as Hugo Boss to enlighten their activities in the 1930s and 1940s.
