Susanne Klatten facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Susanne Klatten
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Klatten in 2017
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| Born |
Susanne Hanna Ursula Quandt
28 April 1962 (age 63) Bad Homburg, West Germany
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| Education | IMD-Lausanne (MBA) |
| Known for | Holdings in Altana and BMW; richest woman in Germany |
| Spouse(s) |
Jan Klatten
(m. 1990; sep. 2018) |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Herbert Quandt (1910–1982) Johanna Quandt (1926–2015) |
| Relatives | Stefan Quandt (brother) Silvia Quandt (half-sister) |
Susanne Hanna Ursula Klatten (born April 28, 1962) is a very successful German businesswoman. She is known for being the richest woman in Germany. Susanne is the daughter of Herbert Quandt and Johanna Quandt, who were also well-known in the business world.
Contents
Her Education and Early Career
Susanne Klatten was born in Bad Homburg, which was in West Germany at the time. She studied business finance and then worked for an advertising company called Young & Rubicam. This was in Frankfurt from 1981 to 1983.
She continued her studies in marketing and management at the University of Buckingham. Later, she earned an MBA from IMD Business School in Lausanne. Her studies focused on advertising.
Susanne also gained experience working at different banks, like Dresdner Bank. She also worked for a management consulting company called McKinsey. Sometimes, she used the name Susanne Kant to work without being recognized.
Her Business Investments
When her father passed away, Susanne inherited a large share of a company called Altana. This company makes special chemicals and medicines. She helped Altana become a very important company in Germany.
In 2006, Altana sold its medicine part for a lot of money. This money was given to the shareholders, including Susanne. She bought even more shares of Altana in 2009. Today, Altana and another company she owns, SKion, have a big share in Landa Digital Printing. This company works with digital printing and new technology.
Susanne also inherited a share in the car company BMW from her father. Her share grew even bigger after her mother passed away in 2015. She joined the board of directors at BMW in 1997, along with her brother Stefan Quandt. She also owns a part of a German company called SGL Carbon, which makes graphite.
The Quandt Family's History
A documentary film called The Silence of the Quandts was released in 2007. It talked about the Quandt family's businesses during World War II. The film showed that the family's factories used forced laborers during the war.
After the film, the Quandt family decided to fund a research project. A historian studied the family's activities during Adolf Hitler's time. The study, released in 2011, found that the Quandts were closely connected to the actions of the Nazis.
Her Personal Life
In 1978, police stopped an attempt to kidnap Susanne and her mother, Johanna Quandt.
Susanne met Jan Klatten while she was working at BMW. They got married in 1990 and lived in Munich. They have three children together. The couple separated in 2018.
Susanne Klatten has been a member of the University Council of the Technical University of Munich since 2005. She received the Bayerischer Verdienstorden (Bavarian Order of Merit) in 2007. She also gives a lot of money to the Christian Democratic Union, a political party in Germany.
See also
- List of female billionaires
