Michael Otto
Michael Otto, is the head of German Otto Group, the world’s largest mail order company, with US$24 billion in sales in fiscal year 2003. Thanks to a 30% rise in Internet sales last year, Otto also maintains its position as the Web’s second-biggest retailer, behind Amazon.com.
- Michael Otto shares in a retail empire his late father, Werner Otto, founded as a mail-order business in Hamburg in 1949.
- As chief executive, he ran his family’s Otto Group for 26 years until 2007. He is now chairman of its supervisory board.
- With revenues exceeding $15 billion, Otto Group has more than 40 companies in retail (including Crate and Barrel), real estate and financial services.
- Michael’s brother Alexander, stepmother Maren and her daughter Katharina — all billionaires — also own stakes in Otto Group.
- Separate from Michael, they own ECE Group, a real estate company focused on shopping centers, and a stake in office property firm Paramount Group.
