Stephan Schmidheiny
Stephan Ernst Schmidheiny is a Swiss entrepreneur, philanthropist and advocate of sustainable development. In 2019, his net worth was estimated by Forbes to be $2.3 billion. He’s also well known for being convicted over his role in the Italian asbestos scandal.
- 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.
