Stephan Schmidheiny
Hurden, Switzerland
Doctorate, University of Zurich
Switzerland
investments
$2,300,000,000
1008
#1008 Billionaires 2019
Stephan Schmidheiny's fortune dates back to 1912 when his grand-uncle founded a business that eventually became a giant in building materials. Schmidheiny became board president of his father's construction materials company Swiss Eternit Group in 1976 at age 29. When his father Max divided the estate in 1984, Stephan inherited Eternit while brother Thomas got cement and concrete supplier Holcim. He sold his holdings in the late 1980s. In 2003 Schmidheiny placed $1 billion in business assets into a charitable trust that helps entrepreneurs across both Central and South America.
Schmidheiny considered becoming a missionary but instead studied law.Schmidheiny was convicted in 2012 for negligence by Eternit's Italian affiliate that led to 2,000 asbestos-related deaths. He was then acquitted in 2014.
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